Rest easy, sleep well.
Others have taken up where you fell, the line has held.
Peace, peace, and farewell...
Arlington National Cemetery, Washington, DC

These wreaths -- some 5,000 -- are donated by the Worcester
Wreath Co. of Harrington, Maine. The owner, Merrill Worcester, not only
provides the wreaths, but covers the trucking expense as well. He's done
this since 1992.

I am so excited about this website. We have a rich history my mother's family have been in Arizona for many generations before it was a State.
Thank you
Irene L. Steffen
countessvonsteffen@msn.com
¶
Dear Ms. Lozano,
Through the wonders of a search engine I recently encountered your wonderful "Somos Primos" website. On it I found an article I had written about the Lozano family of Harlingen, TX.
I have attached for you six articles concerning Hispanics in the Lower Rio Grande Valley of Texas. Written by me, they are on the cameroncountyhistoricalcommission.org website. You have my permission to carry them on your website should you wish to do so.
Norman Rozeff
nrozeff@sbcglobal.net

¶
I want to extend my cordial
"FELIZIDADES" on the wonderful job you are doing to put together such a lengthy document!
I will be thinking about you every time I turn a page.
Thank you !

¶
Mimi: again - thanks for this fantastic copy of SOMOS PRIMOS. I send it out to everyone I know and we are all in AWE of your fantastic literature and information. Love it!
Gloria Candelaria
candelglo@sbcglobal.net

Mimi, thank you so much for your contribution to our gente. I am back in college as an adult mujer seeking to continue my education and my goal is to
receive a BA degree in Communications. I have forwarded this to my Chicano Studies
instructor....
Eva S. Perez, Program Supervisor I
Health Care Agency
CalWORKs/BHS
(714) 480-6607eperez@ochca.com
¶
Mimi, As usual but with more "salsa picante and carino," this edition was caliente, epsecially the section on Guy Gabaldon. We continue to do our part back in Texas.--WilliePerez
gillermoperez@sbcglobal.net

¶
This is amazing Mimi! I wonder how many of us east of the Mississippi know about what you all are doing with this. I will have a press kit out to you before your next issue deadline. Thanks again for including us in your wonderful
ezine.
Much love,
Linda Garcia Merchant
Voces Primeras, LLC

¶
Thank you Mimi, for all the hard work that you and everyone that is involved in sending the Somos Primos Newsletter are doing. It is greatly appreciated. The articles are very interesting and informative.

The Reason for the Season, Christmas 2006
National
issues . . . 5 Little Known telegram from Dr. Martin Luther
King to Dr. Hector P. Garcia
Action item:
National Museum for the Latino Community
Santa Ana is now nation's largest city with an all-Latino city council
4 Myths About Undocumented Immigrants Dispelled in University Study
Marriage Is Alive And Well Among Foreign Born
Text Messaging Registers Young Latinos
National Museum for the Latino Community <
<
Latinos in Congress, 2000 to 2006
Education . . .15amily Fact of the Week: Education Pays
Latina PhDs being sought to participate in study: Chicano Studies Implications:
Brown University Slavery & Justice ReportBringing
the Reality of History to the Community
Thomson Gale: Excellent free resources for teachers.
Latino Education: Improving Literacy by Manuel HernandezCulture . .
.18
Grandmother/Granddaughter Book Project
Today's Nun Has A Veil--And A Blog
Native Saint: The Amazing Journey of Juan Diego Musical
Film "Guadalupe" to Open in U.S.
Poesía en español - Spanish poetry
Nuestra Family Unida, Significiant Women Podcast Project
Lowriding Impala in Japan

The Reason for the Season
Christmas 2006
Sand Sculptures, Ocean
City, Maryland

"Each time I watch him I marvel at his talent and fortitude because it is true that his works get washed away with the tide and he does them again. He is certainly a witness for Jesus Christ as thousands of people, in the course of a day, view his work and watch as he crafts his treasures. I hope you enjoy it. It is
incredible!". . . . Chuck Ritchey,Sr.
Sent by Armando and Olga Ordonez Rodriguez ORDONEZ49NINER@aol.com

Little
Known telegram from Dr. Martin Luther King to Dr. Hector P. Garcia
With the ground breaking for the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial in
Washington, DC,
Rick Leal, President of the Hispanic Medal of Honor Society, thought the
telegram below would be of special interest. It is a copy of a March
6th 1968 Western Union telegram sent by Dr. Martin Luther King to Dr.
Hector P. Garcia. The letter from Dr. King was requesting a meeting
with Dr. Garcia. The entire text is typed and appears below the copy
of the telegram.

THE TIME TO CLEARLY PRESENT THE CASE OF POOR PEOPLE
NATIONALLY
DRAWS NEAR. I HOPE YOU WILL AGREE WITH ME THAT THIS CAN ONLY
BE DONE EFFECTIVELY IF THERE IS A JOINT THINKING OF REPRESENTATIVES
OF ALL RACIAL, RELIGIOUS AND ETHNIC GROUPS.
IN KEEPING WITH OUR PREVIOUS PRACTICE, I AM ASSEMBLING A SPECIAL
MEETING SO THAT THE DESIRED JOINT THINKING CAN BE BROUGHT TO
BEAR ON THE URGENT NEEDS OF POOR PEOPLE. YOU LEADERSHIP IS
KNOWN AND WELL RECOGNIZED.
MAY I REQUEST THAT YOU MEET WITH ME IN A CLOSED SESSION AT
THE PASCHALS MOTOR INN, HUNTER STREET, ATLANTA, GEORGIA, THURSDAY
MARCH 14, 1968 FROM 12:00 NOON UNTIL 6:OO P.M.

WE WOULD HOPE THAT YOUR ORGANIZATION COULD PAY YOUR
EXPENSES.
IF FOR SOME REASON THIS POSES A PROBLEM, WE WOULD HOPE THAT
YOU WILL COME, KNOWING THAT SOLO WILL FIND SOME WAY TO TAKE
CARE OF SAME.
PLEASE RESPOND IMMEDIATELY BY WIRE OR PHONE TO BERNARD LAFAYETTE,
PROGRAM DIRECTOR, SOLO, 334 AUBURN AVE. NE, ATLANTA. TELEPHONE
(404) 522-1420
DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING JR PRESIDENT SOLO

14 1968 12:00 6:00 334 (404)522-1420

For more information on Dr. Hector P. Garcia, contact
Rick Leal at GGR1031@aol.com
or call 415-307-7779

National Museum for the Latino Community

Give yourself and descendants a gift by writing a letter
or making a telephone call to support the concept of a National Museum for
the Latino Community in Washington, D.C.. Dr. Hector P. Garcia was the
first national leader in the fight for the civil rights of everyone.
As we applaud the recognition given to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. we
should also help the public acknowledge the Latino contributions as well.

Santa Ana is now
the nation's largest city
with an all-Latino city council

By Jennifer Delson
Times Staff Writer November 9, 2006
Sent by Ricardo Valverde RValverde@ochca.com

Santa Ana has already been anointed the most Spanish-speaking city in the
United States. Now, it is the largest U.S. city with an all-Latino city
council.

On Tuesday, three Latino candidates won seats on the city's seven-member
council, joining four other Latino incumbents.

According to the National Assn. of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials,
no other city with a population over 300,000 holds that distinction. Santa
Ana is the 51st-largest city in the nation, and the ninth largest in the
state, with a population of nearly 350,000.

"What's happening in Santa Ana reflects what's happening all over the
country," said Rueben Martinez, a longtime Democratic activist and
Santa Ana bookstore owner. "There were so many Latino candidates
around the country in places like Minnesota, Ohio, Oregon and elsewhere.
Here, this is a city that leads the trend."

Just how long the majority will last remains to be seen, though.
Councilman Jose Solorio won an Assembly seat Tuesday, and his seat will be
filled either by appointment or special election.

Latinos hold all the seats in city councils in several smaller cities in
Southern California, such as Irwindale and Bell Gardens, in border areas
in the Southwest and in places such as Hialeah, Fla., where most of the
population is Cuban American. But Santa Ana is the largest.

Rodolfo de la Garza, research director of the Tomas Rivera Policy
Institute, is not surprised by the election results in Santa Ana.

He said the Latino population had grown and matured politically so the
result was nearly inevitable.

Newly elected Councilman Sal Tinajero, who has served on the city's school
board, said an all Latino council "is a wonderful opportunity for
people to stop stigmatizing us and saying that a Latino representative
only represents Latino people."

Solorio said the all-Latino majority came nearly 20 years after Latinos
became a majority in the city. Only in 2002 did Latinos become a majority
on the council.

Political analyst Steve Sammarco said he was not surprised it took that
long.

Only half of the city's 91,000 registered voters are Latinos, and of
those, only 12% voted in four of the last five elections, Sammarco said.

Dr. Elaine Lacy, University of South Carolina research director for the Consortium for Latino Immigration Studies, delivered the results of her two-year study on the Mexican immigrant population in South Carolina, titled "Mexican Immigrants to South Carolina: A Profile."

Myth No. 1: Latino immigrants want to move to the United States permanently and will remain here unless they are forced to leave.

Lacy said 60 percent of Mexicans plan to return to Mexico, where they prefer to live. They were in the United States to earn money. Only 28 percent of Mexican immigrants indicated they want to remain in the United States and would do so only if family members were with them.

Of the 181 immigrants interviewed, only four were unemployed. "They came here to work," Lacy said. "They want to help with living expenses for family members in Mexico and to save money for housing, businesses and retirement in Mexico."

Other than public education, the only other public service utilized was WIC, a Medicaid program available to qualifying families when their children are born in the United States. Only 15 percent of the families interviewed had children born in the U.S., but not all of those qualified for the WIC program.

Lacy said undocumented immigrants are ineligible for any public assistance, and approximately 70 percent of the Mexican immigrants interviewed were undocumented.

The U.S. Census reports that 21.8 percent of Hispanics live in poverty and 32.7 percent lack health insurance. Common sense tells us those percentages are not all comprised from the undocumented population.

Myth No. 3: Latino immigrants refuse to learn English and do not want to assimilate into U.S. culture.

Nearly half the respondents said they were making efforts to learn English. One-quarter said they were taking formal English classes, while nearly an additional 25 percent said they were learning from purchased tapes, watching English television and reading English publications. Lacy said 30 percent cited learning the language as the biggest need of the Mexican community.
In Texas, these classes routinely have waiting lists. The same is being reported throughout the country.

Myth No. 4: Many immigrants are criminals who have no respect for the law.

Only two of the 181 interviewed reported any problems with law enforcement. Both cases were related to driving without a license. Lacy said many immigrants said they admired Americans for their belief in, and respect, for the law.

Dr. Lacy discovered other information that was a surprise to her and her team but sadly have been known to the rest of us: there is a high incidence of depression among the undocumented because of the separation from their families and the stress of living in the United States.

But perhaps the biggest revelation from Dr. Lacy's research that she fails to mention is that the undocumented, for all that they suffer, still have the ganas to keep going - and that says something about the human spirit.

Marriage Is Alive And Well Among Foreign Born
by Pueng Vongs, New America Media, Oct 20, 2006
Sent by Howard Shorr howardshorr@msn.com

The decline in marriage has gripped the headlines of late, but the reports don't mention that marriage is holding its own among foreign-born Americans, and why this is the case. Pueng Vongs is an editor at New America Media.

SAN FRANCISCO--At a time when more couples across the nation are rejecting marriage, immigrants are importing it.

For the first time, married households in the nation have become a minority, representing 49.7 percent, or 55.2 million of the nation's 111.1 million homes, based on numbers from the Census' recently released American Community Survey.

Among the reasons cited by the New York Times for the decline of matrimony are a greater acceptance of couples living together out of wedlock, an increase in broken marriages and the high cost of maintaining a family.

The same data show, however, that a greater percentage of foreign born continue to outpace their native-born counterparts in tying the knot. Some 61.9 percent of foreign born are married, compared with 51.9 percent of native born.

Comparing household figures from a 2004 survey, 58.4 percent of foreign-born households consisted of a married couple, or 8.3 million, a figure that dipped slightly in 2001 but has inched up annually between 2002 and 2004.

With growing immigration, the prototypical American family with husband, wife and child will increasingly gain a new face. Observers say the high marriage rate may be attributed to immigrants bringing old-world, traditional values to the new world, and the frequency with which the foreign born emigrate with spouses. But observers think that once here, foreign-born couples and successive generations are susceptible to the same forces that pull apart native-born couples.

Asians lead all other immigrant groups in matrimony, followed by Latinos. This largely has to do with cultural values, says Reverend Norman Fong, advocacy chair of San Francisco's Presbyterian churches. He says among the foreign-born majority who live in the city's Chinatown, marriage is still a major institution. "They depend on these family networks in their homeland. It is like education, very important."

Teresa Liu, 33, born in China's Shandong province, says it was never a question whether or not she would get married. "I was born in the 1970s at the end of the Cultural Revolution. Back then there were rigid rules, like boys and girls were not to have relationships until after college. I knew my parents eventually wanted me to get married and have a child." Liu, who immigrated to the United States, is now married to a high school friend she got reacquainted with on a later trip to China.

When her parents immigrated to the United States they struggled at first like many immigrants but had each other to depend on. "They had a tough time, my father was making barely enough and my mother did not speak much English, but she found work as a nanny."

"The family and marriage are the one thing people are hanging onto," Fong says. "They can't depend on justice or services, but they can always depend on family."

The greater number of married foreign born may also have to do with the ease of bringing a spouse over to the United States, says Jeffrey Passel, senior research associate with the Pew Hispanic Center.

"Our immigration laws are designed to give preference to immediate family, mostly nuclear families. If you are a citizen, your spouse goes to the front of the line. If you are a legal immigrant your spouse and children have high preference. This encouragement of immigration is built into the law."

While many immigrant couples may arrive here married, some say that it can be a different story once they get here.

David Hayes-Bautista, a demographer and director of the Center for the Study of Latino Health and Culture at UCLA, says there has been a steady decline of marriage among all groups in America since the 1950s. One reason is urbanization.

"Foreign-born Latinos historically have had one of the highest marriage rates in the country," Hayes-Bautista says. "Many who immigrate to the United States come from rural areas in Mexico and Central America where there are still socially conservative; but then they settle in a place like L.A."

He says urbanization often leads to higher wages, education and more choices. The results are especially visible in later generations. "Over the generations children and grandchildren become more urbanized and not as culturally assimilated. For example, Latino fertility rates have dropped in the past 15 years."

Anh Do, editor of editor of Nguoi Viet 2, the youth English section of the Nguoi Viet Daily News in Orange County, Calif., says a lot of Vietnamese families have been split by immigration. "One spouse comes here before the other and may have started a new life or relationship. When the other spouse comes here and sees what it's like they may decide to break up." Do says there has been a greater acceptance of divorce and second marriages in the Vietnamese-American community as times and pressures change.

She believes the growing status of women in the community is another reason for the break in traditions. "I think women are more independent now. They earn more money and have exposure to other worlds, other people and other values. They may no longer subscribe to something they feel is a remnant of tradition or morality."

Hayes-Bautista says urbanization, increased education and employment for women around the world are the primary reasons for declining fertility. "If you look at highly Catholic societies like Italy and Spain, fertility has plummeted in the past 30 years and these two countries also have one of the highest rates of economic and industrial growth since the '70s."

He adds that France offers rewards for people to get married and have children, but hasn't been very successful.

Hayes-Bautista also points to the high cost of having a family and says that, in general, America isn't a family-friendly society. But with traditional family values stronger among immigrants, the country may have a chance to rescue the importance of marriage as an institution.

Hayes-Bautista says, "In essence we have a renewal purchase on the institution of a married couple with children among immigrants. Will we build on it or let it slip out of our grasp again? These are policy and political questions."

LATINOS IN CONGRESS (2000 to 2006)
By John P. Schmal
Extracted from NALEO Election Reports, 2000-2006

Before the 2000 Election

After the Nov. 2000 Election

After the Nov. 2002 Election

After the Nov. 2004 Election

After the Nov. 2006 Election

U.S. House of Representatives

Arizona

1

1

2

2

2

California

6

6

7

7

7

Colorado

0

0

0

1

1

Florida

2

2

3

3

3

Illinois

1

1

1

1

1

New Jersey

1

1

1

1

1

New York

2

2

2

2

2

Texas

6

6

6

6

6

Total

19

19

22

23

23

U.S. Senate

Colorado

0

0

0

1

1

Florida

0

0

0

1

1

Total

0

0

0

2

2

LATINOS IN STATE LEGISLATURES (2000 to 2006)

By John P. Schmal

(as extracted from NALEO Election Reports, 2000-2006)

Before the 2000 Election

After the Nov. 2000 Election

After the Nov. 2002 Election

After the Nov. 2004 Election

After the Nov. 2006 Election

State Senates

Arizona

4

4

5

5

5

California

7

7

9

10

9

Colorado

2

1

2

2

2

Florida

3

3

3

3

3

Georgia

0

0

1

1

0

Hawaii

1

1

1

1

1

Illinois

2

2

4

4

4

Kansas

1

1

1

0

0

Maryland

0

0

2

2

1

Massachusetts

0

0

1

1

1

Michigan

0

0

1

1

1

Minnesota

0

0

0

0

1

Nebraska

1

1

1

0

1

Nevada

1

1

1

1

1

New Mexico

15

15

15

14

14

New York

4

4

4

4

4

North Carolina

0

0

0

1

1

Oregon

1

1

0

0

0

Rhode Island

0

0

0

1

1

Texas

7

7

7

7

6

Utah

1

1

0

0

1

Washington

1

1

1

1

1

Total

52

51

59

59

58

State Houses of Representatives or Assemblies

Arizona

8

9

10

11

11

California

16

20

18

19

18

Colorado

8

9

6

5

4

Connecticut

5

5

5

6

6

Delaware

1

1

1

1

1

Florida

12

12

13

13

14

Georgia

0

0

2

2

2

Idaho

0

0

1

1

1

Illinois

4

4

6

7

8

Indiana

0

0

0

1

1

Kansas

1

1

1

4

4

Maryland

0

0

2

2

3

Massachusetts

3

3

3

3

3

Michigan

2

2

0

1

2

Minnesota

1

1

1

1

2

Missouri

0

0

0

0

1

Montana

0

0

0

0

1

Nebraska

0

0

0

1

0

Nevada

0

0

1

1

2

New Hampshire

0

1

1

2

3

New Jersey

5

5

7

5

5

New Mexico

27

29

30

29

31

New York

8

8

11

12

13

North Carolina

0

0

1

1

1

Oregon

0

0

0

2

1

Pennsylvania

1

1

1

1

1

Rhode Island

1

2

2

3

2

South Carolina

0

0

0

1

1

Tennessee

1

1

0

1

1

Texas

28

28

30

30

31

Utah

1

0

0

2

1

Washington

2

2

2

2

2

Wisconsin

1

1

1

1

1

Wyoming

1

1

1

1

2

Total

139

147

158

172

180

Sources:

National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed
Officials Educational Fund (NALEO), "Latinos Grab Seats In State
Houses Nationwide," November 9, 2000.

NALEO, "Latinos Gain New Ground in Congress and
State Houses," November 11, 2002.

NALEO, "Latinos in Congress and State Houses After
Election 2004: A State-by-State Summary," November 2004.

NALEO, "Latinos Achieve New Political Milestones in
Congress and State Houses: Latinos in States with Emerging Communities Are
Writing the Next Chapter of Latino Political History," November 7,
2006.

"Adults age 18 and older with a bachelor's degree earned an average of $51,554 in 2004, while those with a high school diploma earned $28,645, according to new tabulations released today by the U.S. Census Bureau. Those without a high school diploma earned an average of $19,169.

The series of tables, Educational Attainment in the United States: 2005, also showed advanced-degree holders made an average of $78,093."

Sent by Cecilia Mota ccmota@aol.comInterim National Board Member, NLBWA
National Latina Business Women Association

Chicano Studies Implications due to Brown University Slavery and Justice ReportSent by Dorinda Moreno dorindamoreno@comcast.net

Brown University's President has just released the 106-page report, _Slavery and Justice: Report of the Brown University Steering Committee on Slavery and Justice_. Ruth J. Simmons, for those who may not know, is the first African American to serve as president of the university. She is originally from Texas. You may access the report at the link provided in the text of her letter explaining the report's origin and purpose.

Though this may be a stretch from the going daily concerns of Chicano historiography, I thought that some of you may be interested in the material. Recently the California Assembly approved a bill apologizing for the violence represented by the Mexican deportation and repatriation campaigns of the 1930s. That half a million or more Mexicanos were sent "back to Mexico" without any respect for or honoring of the citizenship rights of more than 40 percent of them (and the human rights of the others), and with California and Texas providing the overwhelming number of those thus treated by our local, state, and federal governments, taken together speaks to the immediacy of the present report. The California bill was inspired by a member of the Assembly's reading of the book published by the University of New Mexico Press, _Decade of Betrayal: Mexican Repatriation in the 1930s_, researched and written by Chicano historians Francisco E. Balderrama and Raymond Rodríguez.

During the most recent regular legislative session in Texas two years ago, recall the debate over doing something to commemorate and otherwise remember the estimated 500 to 5000 Mexico-Tejanos who died during the time surrounding the Plan de San Diego in the 1910s, especially so in the southernmost part of the state, that area today called El Valle aka the Rio Grande Valley, some go further and call it Lower Rio Grande Valley. In this recent Texas case, the discussion didn't even approach going anywhere near mention of reparations, which is the debate that surrounds the matter of African slavery in the U.S., and in this instance, that of Brown University. In any case, read and share with others if you deem it appropriate.

Roberto R. Calderón
Historia Chicana [Historia]

Bringing the Reality of History to the Community: Latino Advocates for
Education

For the 10th Year Latino Advocates for Education, based
in Orange County, California
hosted a Celebration to Honor Latino Veterans. Embedded in the activities
is the goal of reaching young people to respect and honor their country
and families. In addition to the distinguished guests which always make up
the program, the assistance of Latino fraternities and service
organizations are enlisted. President Judge Fredrick Aguirre is roundly
supported by family and Latino Advocates for Education members.

Wife, Linda Aguirre is a middle school teacher. Her
students prepare a mural appropriate to the theme. Below. hangs the mural
above the display cases filled with military artifacts.

Military
displays are shared by individuals and groups from all over
California.

SHHAR traditionally mounts
a family history display. Board members Bea Dever, Cris Rendon were in
attendance, Yolanda Magdaleno and your editor Mimi manned the table.

Read biographies of significant Hispanic individuals
Take a Hispanic culture quiz
Follow a timeline of events that helped shape the Hispanic culture
Explore Hispanic holidays, musical genres and other topics with information culled from Thomson Gale resources
Visit other pertinent sites and find suggestions for further readings.

Latino Education: Improving Literacy by Manuel Hernandez-Carmona

United States population numbers continue to defy all census projections. While the emphasis has been on the three-hundred million milestone, Latinos continue to quietly grow at a rate of about one-million per year. There are already almost seven-million Latino children in American schools. There is no doubt that something must be done to improve literacy among high school students, especially with a booming minority that literally has so much physical, economic and political presence. Because of the up and coming electoral event, we once more hear questions asked to politicans about the growing Latino high school dropout rate. In some states, one out of every two Latino teens quit high school. Forget why, that is simply too many Latino teens left to wonder and sleepwalk in America’s streets. That is a crisis!

What new strategies can be implemented “as soon as yesterday” to help these kids stay in school? How can they (newly arrived teen immigrants) be motivated and encouraged to stay in an already foreign educational environment? When will the United States Department of Education understand that these kids will be motivated to stay in school when a bridge from their “left-behind” culture is provided to walk across smoothly and steadfastly to the “newly acquired culture”? It has taken the United States decades to assimilate European soccer as a sport, but we expect the recently arrived teen to become academically competent in an educational arena at a record time pace. Nonsense!

Why not ask Latino teens what books they want to read? We already know what the curriculum wants them to read? As teachers, we are encouraged to give our students choices. As educators, we know that we know that when choices are provided results are obtained. Why not consider the students’ ability levels? In other words, let us provide choices according to their literacy level not at the level that we think they ought to read. We already know that smaller groups pave the way for more individualized instruction. Then let us use what we know and integrate more culturally sensitive literature. There is no way that a recently arrived teen can hack the classics in one or even two semesters. Impossible!

How can we base academic goals to encourage students who are expected to fail? It sounds like a paradox, but that is exactly what we are doing. One cannot expect results when the strategies used are the same as in the past. There must be a change in the curriculum! Initiatives are fine, but changes are a must if we are really serious about academic results. There is so much being said about the war and the nuclear threat. These are serious issues! Wars and threats will come and go, but the education of our children has a generational effect that goes beyond our present and lasts forever. Education is and will always be the issue and improving literacy is a goal that we must set forth as a priority today, not tomorrow.

Editor:
Last month included schedule information about presentations and
displays set up by
Kathleen Carrizal-Frye
and her grand daughter
Kirsten Rawson. This on-going (5-years) project produced a book
being viewed by George Gause, librarian, University of Texas, PanAmerica.
What a treasured family project.

My grandchildren have helped me on and off with Somos Primos. Maybe
you can think of a heritage project in which both you, your
children and grand children can participate together.

Dia de los MuertosDay of the Dead

La
Catrina
Jose Guadalupe Posada

By
Kathleen Carrizal-Frye
&
Kirsten Rawson

The Day of the dead/Dia de los Muertos . . . . . . . Never heard of it!

by Kathleen Carrizal-Frye

I moved to the Rio Grande Valley, from Houston, in 1996. Most people go
the other way, to the big city.
I guess I've always lived my life in
reverse. I was born and raised in a barrio, not speaking any Spanish. The
only Mexican culture I remember having was a piñata at birthday parties
and wearing footwear called chanclas. I knew of Cinco de Mayo,
but never heard about Deis y Seis de Septiembre.

(When my daughter was born on the 16th of
Sept in 1970, my sister explained it to me. I told her "No, that's
Cinco de Mayo", to which she said, "Oh no, Mexico celebrates two
Independence days".)

So when I heard the description of Dia
de los Muertos, it sounded fascinating.

In
2000, my granddaughter whom I’m raising, Kirsten Rawson, and I met
George Gause (in charge of special collections at nearby UTPA) at a
genealogical conference in Marin, Nuevo Leon, Mexico. (Jose Gonzalez of
Houston started that celebration) We kept in touch via e-mail in reference
to my genealogical work.

In 2001 we found out he put up an
altar at the Dia de los Muertos exhibit at the Museum of South Texas
History, in Edinburg. My granddaughter and I were anxious to view his
display.

Once there, we were hooked. There were
wonderful altars dedicated to the recent 9-11 attack on the WTC.
Others were dedicated to deceased loved ones. There were fliers describing
the symbolic meaning of everything placed on the altars. We grabbed a
couple of them and set out to identify everything on the displays. We
spent a couple of hours reading all the letters and studying all the
personal mementos placed on the altars. This was definitely
something that we took to heart.

Later during the week, we saw an
announcement for another exhibition in Donna, Texas. We knew we had to
attend that one. We got out our map and found the old American Legion Hall
where the Donna Hooks Historical Museum was temporarily housed after their
museum was damaged by a fire. The altars there were wonderful. Kirsten was
amazed at all the details of the altars. She was so mesmerized by the
skulls with marigolds in their eye sockets that a reporter
interviewed her for the local newspaper. The curator, Laura Lincoln,
noticed Kirsten's fascination and asked her if she wanted to display an
altar next year.

Well, that was five years ago and Kirsten
has displayed every year.

In 2002, Kirsten was the youngest person
displaying an altar. She was 10years old and in the 5th grade. Her
teacher, Mrs. Loredo (our mayor's wife) came to see her exhibit. Kirsten’s
altar was dedicated to "Los Abuelos". Both sides of her
family tree were there. The Rawson/Brown on one side and the Carrizal/Hernandez/Rodriguez
on the other. Kirsten wore a China Poblana costume and was just precious.
She gave a speech on her altar and named all the items and what they meant
to her.

Laura Lincoln had a sit down meal of
traditional Dia de los Muertos food from the Frida Kahlo cookbook by
Guadalupe Rivera, Frida's step-daughter. (She has hosted this meal every
year)

Kirsten's second year in Donna, 2003,
she dedicated her altar to the art of Frida Kahlo. The curator, Laura,
sponsored a Frida Kahlo costume contest that Kirsten won. (I made the
costume complete with braids and a uni-brow) I made my first altar,
dedicated it to my father Daniel Carrizal who died in 1988, and have put
it up every year since. I make changes to it to keep it fresh.

Her third year, 2004,
Kirsten was filmed and interviewed as she set up her
altar (dedicated to her great-grandma Brown from MS) at
the Donna museum. They wanted her to explain the symbolism
of each item as she placed it on the altar. It was aired on a local
newscaster's bi-weekly feature, "Con mi gente", by Rick Diaz on
our local ABC network affiliation. That year we also made 30 miniature
shadow boxes, with a Frida Kahlo theme in them.

Her fourth year, 2005,
Kirsten miniaturized her altar to her great-grandmother Brown for the
Donna Museum, and remade her altar on Frida Kahlo for the IMAS museum in
McAllen, Texas. I made an altar on Jose Guadalupe Posada and his
works. We gave a speech on our altars and the experiences we had
researching and displaying altars throughout the years. I also made an
altar, for the Museum in Edinburg, dedicated to my cousin Eunice, who had
died in April.

During the past four years, we've done
research on the tradition of Dia de los Muertos. Friends and family have
sent up articles and websites on altars. My sister Cyndi Ondrusek and her
daughter Sandi Sutter, both of Burbank, CA, have scoured the bookstores,
museum gift shops, Olvera St. shops, and the internet for items we could
use on our altars. They have sent books, articles, and Dia de los Muertos
art to us. They have supported our endeavors.

Kirsten
and I co-authored a book on Dia de los Muertos. The book contains the
history of the celebration, ideas on how to make an altar, recipes for the
traditional foods and drinks, and arts-and-crafts for the decorations. The
book is a culmination of all our research. We had been asked numerous
times for our recipes of the fun food items such as the skeleton chocolate
candies, severed-finger cookies, and the sugar skulls that we decorate.
The children usually ask how we made the coffee-filter marigolds. All this
is included in our book. For the past two years, we were featured
authors at the Hidalgo County Historical Society's book fair held in
Hidalgo, Texas.
Kirsten is always listed as the youngest author.

This year is Kirsten's fifth year displaying. The calls started coming
in July about our participation in the cities that surround us. We
live in San Juan, Texas and towns east and west called to book us for book
readings and signings, altar displays, to participate in a class on making
an altar, and to co-host a class on decorating skulls.

Sadly, we had to turn down many offers.

Kirsten is a freshman in high school, and
is attending one of the toughest schools in the valley. Med High (South
Texas High School for Health Professions). It was ranked 91st in the
nation. It is located next-door to Science Academy that is ranked 11th in
the nation. Both are located in Mercedes, Texas. (Out of 5 schools in
Texas that made the Top 100 list, two are in the Rio Grande Valley,
side-by-side.)

INDEX

Acknowledgements..3
Index..4Dia de los Muertos/Day of the Dead..5
The Cemetery..6
The Altars (Ofrendas..7
Main Four Elements of the Altars &
Why the four levels of an altar?..8
Traditional Four-Tiered Altar/
The Three Deaths
How you can celebrate Dia de los Muertos..12

We don't know how many more years we can fit these activities in our
schedule. We look forward to this time of the year, but it's hectic. This
may be our last year, but it's been fun, educational, and we made many
friends.

Kathleen Carrizal-Frye & Kirsten Rawson
(Both transplanted "Native Houstonians") San
Juan, Texas Below is an index to the book.
For information about obtaining a copy of the book, please email Kathleen
at kec1952@sbcglobal.net

Dia de los Muertos/Day
of the Dead
INDEX
Acknowledgements..3
Index..4Dia de los Muertos/Day of the Dead..5
The Cemetery..6
The Altars (Ofrendas..7
Main Four Elements of the Altars &
Why the four levels of an altar?..8
Traditional Four-Tiered Altar/
The Three Deaths
How you can celebrate Dia de los Muertos..12

Dr. Armando A.
Ayala DrChili@webtv,net wrote: "
Dear Mimi, Sorry to hear about you not knowing the "HOLY Catholic Rite" concept of
"El Dia de los Finados" (FINISHED ONES) a.k.a. "El Dia de los
Muertos". The term "Finados" was used when I attended "Catechism" almost 70 years ago."

Mimi: This Boricua learned about the Día de los Muertos while living in Mexico City. A young woman gave me a skull made out of sugar with my name on it. She worked for me, and I did not know what to think of it. She explained to me that by making fun of it, death would not touch me. I learned of this as she saw me grieving for a friend who had died of lupus in Chicago, Illinois. I learned that love transcends even death. I left Mexico in the late 80's and have never seen this woman again, but she is part of the lovely experiences I had while living in Mexico, and the love I have for that country.

Thank you Mimi, for bringing this beautiful memory back to me. I also thank you for all the incredible work you do to preserve our Hispanic, Latino heritage. I look forward to reading your newsletter and visiting your web site each month.

Young nuns from the Sisters of Life Convent play volleyball near the water on the SUNY Maritime Campus in the Bronx, September 2006.
From the Magazine | Society

Today's Nun Has A Veil--And A Blog

More young women are entering convents. How they are changing the sisterhood
By TRACY SCHMIDT, LISA TAKEUCHI CULLEN
SUBSCRIBE TO TIMEPRINTE-MAILMORE BY AUTHOR
Posted Monday, Nov. 13, 2006, www.Time.com
Sent by Howard Shorr Howardshorr@msn.com

For the iPod generation, it doesn't get more radical than wearing a veil. The hijab worn by traditional Muslim women might have people talking, but it's the wimple that really turns heads. And in the U.S. today, the nuns most likely to wear that headdress are the ones young enough to have a playlist.

Over the past five years, Roman Catholic communities around the country have experienced a curious phenomenon: more women, most in their 20s and 30s, are trying on that veil. Convents in Nashville, Tenn.; Ann Arbor, Mich.; and New York City all admitted at least 15 entrants over the past year and fielded hundreds of inquiries. One convent is hurriedly raising funds for a new building to house the inflow, and at another a rush of new blood has lowered the median age of its 225 sisters to 36. Catholic centers at universities, including Illinois and Texas A&M, report growing numbers of women entering discernment, or the official period of considering a vocation. Career women seeking more meaning in their lives and empty-nest moms are also finding their way to convent doors.

This is a welcome turnabout for the church. As opportunities opened for women in the 1960s and '70s, fewer of them viewed the asceticism and confinements of religious life as a tempting career choice. Since 1965, the number of Catholic nuns in the U.S. has declined from 179,954 to just 67,773, according to the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate at Georgetown University. The average age of nuns today is 69. But over the past decade or so, expressing their religious beliefs openly has become hip for many young people, a trend intensified among Catholic women by the charismatic appeal of Pope John Paul II's youth rallies and his interpretation of modern feminism as a way for women to express Christian values.

As this so-called JP2 generation has come of age, religious orders have begun to reach out again to young people--and to do so in the language that young people speak. Convents conduct e-mail correspondence with interested women, blogs written by sisters give a peek into the habited life and websites offer online personality questionnaires to test vocations. One site, Vocation-network.org frames the choice much like a dating service, with Christ as the ultimate match. "For a long time, we neglected to invite people to see what we are about," says Sister Doris Gottemoeller of the Institute of the Sisters of Mercy of America, a national order. "I think we're more ready to do that now."

And although the extreme conservatism of a nun's life may seem wholly countercultural for young American women today, that is exactly what attracts many of them, say experts and the women themselves. "Religious life itself is a radical choice," says Brother Paul Vednarczyk, executive director of the National Religious Vocation Conference in Chicago. "In an age where our primary secular values are sex, power and money, for someone to choose chastity, obedience and poverty is a radical statement."
Page 1 of 4

Native Saint: The Amazing Journey of Juan Diego Musical

The compelling story of a humble man's walk to greatness! Inspired by the story of Our Lady of Guadalupe.
A stunning one-woman presentation of the brand new musical -A New Musical - Music and Lyrics by LUCE AMEN.
Set in Mexico, 1531, ten years after the Spanish Conquest. The Indian. The bishop. The mysterious woman Mary. The power of perseverance and faith.

This trimmed version of the full-scale two-hour musical runs just over one hour in length. Songs are a mixture of rock, pop, contemporary Flamenco, mariachi, and memorable, heartfelt ballads. In English, with Spanish and Nawatl.

Eleven one-woman shows of varying lengths have been presented by Ms. Amen in Mexico City, San Antonio, Dallas, and New York City over the past nine months. Response continues to be overwhelmingly positive as plans are now being made for a staged production with full cast.

LUCE AMEN is a singer/instrumentalist/songwriter who has had a successful career in the U.S. and abroad, performing a captivating array of music with brilliance, warmth, and passion. Luce grew up in her mother’s hometown of San Antonio and also spent four years of her childhood in Europe before the family moved back to San Antonio. She is gifted in her ability to present styles and languages with an engagingly authentic sense of command — with a voice that moves audiences to feel the beauty and power of the music.

As a professional musician residing in New York City for many years, LUCE has traveled and performed as soloist and featured orchestral performer . . . for Presidents George H. W. Bush, Bill Clinton, and George W. Bush. She has sung and played for British Royalty, Jackie Kennedy, Elizabeth Taylor, and Rudy Giuliani.

Ms. Amen has opened the show for Willie Nelson, Tanya Tucker, Garth Brooks, and George Strait during the country music portion of her career, when she also won the Marlboro Country Music Award, highlighted in a performance at Madison Square Garden.

LUCE has recorded five albums of original songs including her Tex-Mex hit "Viva Fiesta" in honor of the annual Texas event held each April in San Antonio. Her sixth CD is an International Hit Parade compendium featuringworld favorites in ten languages. NATIVE SAINT: THE AMAZING JOURNEY OF JUAN DIEGO is Ms. Amen’s first musical.

"A powerful and uplifting storyline...
The songs are wonderfully varied and
move the drama along, always at just
the right place. This is a gem!"
BOB DALEY, Production Manager, TheatreworksUSA

MEXICO CITY, NOV. 21, 2006 (Zenit.org).- The world premiere of a film on the miracle of Our Lady of Guadalupe and its impact on Mexican life will take place in 150 cinemas of Mexico on Nov. 30. It will be released Dec. 8 in the United States.

The movie "Guadalupe" is being released in the context of celebrations for the 475th anniversary of the apparitions to St. Juan Diego at Tepeyac. Director Santiago Parra, a native of Ecuador, filmed scenes of the movie in Europe and the Americas. The film was produced by the company Dos Corazones.Parra said the film tries to capture the Guadalupan fervor of Mexico by a foreign director who is able to see profoundly what many Mexicans do not see. His team and cast members were advised by the Higher Institute of Guadalupan Studies.

I've linked to a great interview on the life of Sor
Juana which is entitled "The Female Shakespeare of Mexico."
Please look in the "Mujer" section of the podcast
to listen to this interview and revisit the two other presentations:
"Hers, His, and Theirs: Community Property Law in Spain and
Early Texas" by Dr. Jean Stuntz and "Rethinking
Malinche" by Dr. Frances Karttunen.

There so many significant women that contributed so much to our history. I
don't understand how this area of the podcast can only have three entries.
Can you help me fill this area of the podcast? If you know of someone
knowledgeable on the history of Women in Latin American History please
help me contact them so we can arrange for other Audio Presentation to be
uploaded to the "Mujer" section of the project? Maybe you have a
message. . .please step forward and teach the community about our history.
Visit the site: http://NuestraFamiliaUnida.com
Join the planning committee: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/podhi/
subscribe to the notice group:http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NuestraFamiliaUnida/
send an email: NFU@JosephPuentes.com
or leave a message: 206-339-4134.

Lowriding Impala in Japan.
Mimi,You would not believe how they embrace this culture.

Splendor. . . new
magazineChicago, IL. October 17, 2006. Designed to appeal to prosperous Hispanic trendsetters, innovators and entrepreneurs, Dinero Media Corporation will begin publishing Splendor, a new magazine that targets Latinos between the ages of 24 and 65, who enjoy fine dining, world travel, and fine arts, and who have interest in business, fashion, and real estate.

Presently, Latinos have been moving to middle-class suburbs and prosperous neighborhoods. They are identified by marketers more by their lifestyles and spending habits than by their social and cultural patterns.

To be launched on December 1, 2006, Splendor will feature interviews with true Latino luminaries and icons in the community. It will also feature stories on business, real estate, fashion, innovators, fine dining, travel, health and fitness, and social and cultural events.

A la vanguardia
Splendor Magazine will have an avant-garde editorial content and an elegant graphic style to attract Latinos with luxurious lifestyles. Splendor will offer first-rate advertising, quality of production and distribution to companies seeking to reach Hispanic upscale audiences.

The magazine will be mailed to pre-qualified readers and distributed in over 5,000 special locations throughout the Chicago area, including the finest retailers, boutiques, hotels, gyms, spas, private clubs, chambers of commerce, libraries, government agencies, airports, beauty salons, gourmet stores, medical and law offices, music stores, malls, real estate offices, banks and other locations.

Splendor will be mailed also to subscribers, marketers and advertisers, and distributed at Dinero Media Corporation's sponsored events, and at other social and business events.

With an initial circulation of 30,000 copies, Splendor will recognize the lifestyles and achievements of Latinos in the Midwest. The magazine will be published in Spanish and English and will seek to be renowned for its quality of editorial, photography and design. Complimentary copies of the publication will be distributed to professionals from several industries upon request.

Visually stunning in its artistic design, Splendor will offer readers a unique perspective on Latinos on the rise and their culture, business and social life.

Researchers Needed Monson Genealogy, an upcoming web-based genealogy research firm, is
looking for subcontractors to do genealogy research, part-time at home. Set your own hours and only sign up for jobs you feel
qualified to research. Salary negotiable. Please submit your resume, salary requirements, and references to
monsongenealogy@gmail.com

HEIRLINES Family History &Genealogy is looking for researchers to
work with us on a number of upcoming projects, as well as regular subcontracted researchers. We are particularly interested in BYU
Family History graduates and students, who are willing and able to apply for credentials with ICAPGen or the BCG within the next two
years. A few internships will also be available beginning in March or April of 2006.
Our company is committed to promoting the standardization of professional research practices. The speed of technology, the
development of DNA research, and the other constantly changing
influences on family history require that we, as professionals, keep up with the growing need for qualified and competent research
providers who subscribe to a common set of high standards. We invite you to visit our website,
http://www.heirlines.com, to learn more about our
company.

We are also looking for an experienced webmaster, who is familiar with shopping carts and site optimization.
Some family history knowledge would be helpful, but not necessary.

Pearl Harbor, December 7th
The 65th Infantry Regiment
Veteran's Day - from a veteran
United States Marshal David Gonzales
Agent Richard F. Morello
Fred Blanco, re-enactor of Cesar Chavez at Fort Irwin, California
One man fights for two countries
The Marine, a poem

Pearl Harbor, December 7th, 1941

The fellow who sent these, received them from an old shipmate on the USS
Quapaw
ATF-11O. Hard to believe they were taken by a Brownie, some 60 odd years ago.
I think they are spectacular. sjplc@sbcglobal.net

Pearl Harbor - On Sunday, December 7th, 1941 the Japanese launched a surprise attack against the U.S. forces stationed at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. By planning his attack on a Sunday, the Japanese commander Admiral Nagumo, hoped to catch the entire fleet in port. As luck would have it, the Aircraft Carriers and one of the Battleships were not in port. (The USS Enterprise was returning from Wake Island, where it had just delivered some aircraft. The USS Lexington was ferrying aircraft to Midway, and the USS Saratoga and USS Colorado were undergoing repairs in the United States.) In spite
of the latest intelligence reports about the missing a aircraft carriers (his most important targets), Admiral Nagumo decided to continue the attack with his force of six carriers and 423 aircraft. At a range of 230 miles north of Oahu, he launched the first wave of a two-wave attack. Beginning at 0600 hours his first wave consisted of 183 fighters and torpedo bombers which struck at the fleet in Pearl Harbor and the airfields in Hickam, Kaneohe and Ewa. The second strike, launched at 0715 hours, consisted of 167 aircraft, which again struck at the same targets. At 0753 hours the first wave consisting of 40 Nakajima B5N2 "Kate" torpedo bombers, 51 Aichi D3A1 "Val" dive bombers, 50 high altitude bombers and 43 Zeros struck airfields and Pearl Harbor. Within the next hour, the second wave arrived and continued the attack. When it was over, the U.S.losses were:
Casualties USA : 218 KIA, 364 WIA. USN: 2,008 KIA, 710 WIA. USMC: 109 KIA, 69 WIA. Civilians: 68 KIA, 35 WIA. TOTAL: 2,403 KIA, 1,178
WIA.

The 65th Infantry
Regiment

By Tony (The Marine) Santiago

65th Infantry Regiment Coat of Arms

The
65th Infantry Regiment nicknamed "The Borinqueneers"; was an
all-volunteer Puerto Rican Regiment of the U.S. Army whose motto was Honor
and Fidelity and which participated in World War I, World War II, and the
Korean War.

Puerto Ricans have participated in every major American military
conflict, from the American Revolution when volunteers from Puerto Rico,
Cuba, and Mexico fought the British in 1779 under the command of General
Bernardo de Gálvez (1746-1786), to the present-day conflict in Iraq.
However, it was during the Korean War that Puerto Ricans suffered the most
casualties as members of an all-Hispanic volunteer unit. One of the
problems that they faced was the difference in languages: the common foot
soldier spoke only Spanish, while the commanding officers were mostly
English-speaking Americans. Another problem that they faced was the
climate. However, despite the hardships suffered by the members of the
65th Infantry, Puerto Ricans served with pride and honor.

World War I
On July 1, 1898, "The Porto Rico Regiment of Infantry, United States
Army" was created and approved by the U.S. Congress on May 27, 1908.
They trained in Camp Las Casas in Santurce, a section of San Juan. On May
3, 1917, the Regiment recruited 1,969 men, considered at that time as war
strength. On May 14, 1917, the Regiment was sent to Panama in defense of
the Panama Canal Zone. The Regiment returned to Puerto Rico on March 1919
and was renamed "The 65th Infantry" by the Reorganization Act of
June 4, 1920.

World War IISoldiers of the 65th Infantry training in Salinas, Puerto Rico. August
1941

In 1942,
at the outbreak of World War II, the 65th Infantry underwent an extensive
training program and in 1943, it was sent to Panama to protect the Pacific
and the Atlantic sides of the Isthmus. On 1944, the Regiment was sent to
North Africa, arriving at Casablanca where they underwent further
training. By April 29, 1944, the Regiment had landed in Italy and moved on
to Corsica. On September 22, 1944, the 65th Infantry landed in France and
was committed to action on the Maritime Alps at Peira Cava. They suffered
a total of forty seven battle casualties. The first Puerto Rican to be
killed in action from the 65th Infantry was Sgt. Angel Martinez, from the
town of Sabana Grande. On April 20, the 65th overran a sub-camp of the
Flossenburg Concentration Camp. On March 18, 1945, the Regiment was sent
to the District of Mannheim, Germany and assigned to Military Government
activities, anti-sabotage and security missions. In all, the 65th Infantry
participated in the battles of Naples-Fogis, Rome-Arno, Central Europe and
of the Rhineland. On October 27, 1945 the Regiment sailed from France
arriving at Puerto Rico on November 9, 1945.

Korean War
This 1992 painting depicts the Puerto Rican 65th Infantry Regiment's
bayonet charge against a Chinese division during the Korean War.

On August 26, 1950,
the 65th Infantry departed from Puerto Rico and arrived in Pusan, Korea on
September 23, 1950. It was during the long sea voyage that the men
nicknamed the 65th Infantry "Borinqueneers". The name is a
combination of the words "Borinquen" (which was what the Tainos
called the island before the arrival of the Spaniards) and
"Buccaneers". The men of the 65th were among first infantrymen
to meet the enemy on the battle fields of Korea. One of the hardships
suffered by the Puerto Ricans was the lack of warm clothing during the
cold and harsh winters. The enemy made many attempts to encircle the
Regiment, but each time they failed because of the many casualties
inflicted by the 65th. The 65th was part of a task force which enabled the
U.S. Marines to withdraw from the Chosin Reservoir on December 1950. When
the Marines were encircled by the Chinese Communist troops close to the
Manchurian border, the 65th rushed to their defense. As a consequence, the
Marines were able to return safely to their ships.

Among the battles and operations in which the 65th participated was the
Operation "Killer" of January 1951, becoming the first Regiment
to cross the Han River. On April 1951, the Regiment participated in the
Uijonber Corridor drives and on June 1951, the 65th was the third Regiment
to cross the Han Ton River. The 65th was the Regiment which took and held
Cherwon and they were also instrumental in breaking the "Iron
Triangle" of Hill 717 on July 1951. On November 1951, the Regiment
fought off an attack by two Regimental size enemy units, with success.
Colonel Juan Cesar Cordero Davila was named commander of 65th Infantry on
February 8, 1952, thus becoming one of the highest ranking ethnic officers
in the Army.

On July 3, 1952, the Regiment defended the MLR for 47 days and saw
action at Cognac, King and Queen with successful attacks on Chinese
positions. On October the Regiment also saw action in the Cherwon Sector
and on Iron Horse, Hill 391, whose lower part was called "Jackson
Heights" . On September 1952, the 65th Infantry was holding on to a
hill known as "Outpost Kelly". Chinese Communist forces which
had joined the North Koreans, overran the hill in what became known as the
Battle for Outpost Kelly. Twice the 65th Regiemnt was overwhelmed by
Chinese artillery and driven off.

Mass court-martial

Col. Cordero Davila was relieved of his command by Col. Chester B.
DeGavre, a West Point graduate and a "continental," a officer
from the mainland United States and the officer staff of the 65th was
replaced with non-Hispanic officers.

DeGavre ordered that unit stop calling itself the Borinqueneers, cut
their special rations of rice and beans, ordered the men to shave off
their mustaches and had one of them wear signs that read "I am a
coward".

It is believed that humiliation, combat exhaustion and the language
barrier where factors that influenced some of the men of Company L in
their refusal to continue to fight.

On December 1954, One hundred and sixty-two Puerto Ricans of the 65th
Infantry were arrested, Ninety-five soldiers were court-martialed and
Ninety-one were found guilty and sentenced to prison terms ranging from
one to 18 years of hard labor. It was the largest mass court-martial of
the Korean War. The Secretary of the Army Robert Stevens moved quickly to
remit the sentences and granted clemency and pardons to all those
involved.

An Army report released in 2001 blamed the breakdown of the 65th on the
following factors: a shortage of officers and noncommissioned officers,
a rotation policy that removed combat-experienced leaders and soldiers,
tactics that led to high casualties, an ammunition shortage,
communication problems between largely white, English-speaking officers
and Spanish-speaking Puerto Rican enlisted men, and declining morale.
The report also found bias in the prosecution of the Puerto Ricans,
citing instances of continental soldiers who were not charged after
refusing to fight in similar circumstances, before and after Jackson
Heights.[55]

Though the men who were court-martialed were pardoned, there currently
is a campaign for a formal exoneration.

Company "C" on patrol

On June
1953, the 2nd Battalion conducted a series of successful raids on Hill 412
and on November the Regiment successfully counter attacked enemy units in
the Numsong Valley and held their positions until the truce signing
between all parts involved.

10 Distinguished Service Cross, 256 Silver Star Medals and 606 Bronze
Star Medals for valor were awarded to the men of the 65th Infantry.
According to "El Nuevo Día Newspaper, 30 May 2004" a total of
756 Puerto Ricans lost their lives in Korea, from all four branches of the
U.S. Armed Forces. More then half of these were from the 65th Infantry
(This is without including non-Puerto Ricans).

The 65th
Infantry returned to Puerto Rico and was deactivated in 1956. However,
Brig. General Juan Cordero, Puerto Rico's Adjutant General, persuaded the
Department of the Army to transfer the 65th Infantry from the regular Army
to the Puerto Rican National Guard. This was the only unit ever
transferred from active component Army to the Army Guard.

The 65th Infantry was recognized as a World War II liberating unit by
the U.S. Army's Center of Military History and the United States Holocaust
Memorial Museum in 1994. Puerto Rico honored the unit by naming one of its
principal avenues "La 65 de Infanteria" in San Juan.

The names of those who perished in combat are inscribed in "El
Monumento de la Recordación" (Monument of Remembrance), which was
unveiled on May 19, 1996 and is situated in front of the Capitol Building
in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Quote

On February 12, 1951, General Douglas MacArthur, was quoted in
Tokyo saying the following: "The Puerto Ricans forming the ranks of
the gallant 65th Infantry on the battlefields of Korea…are writing a
brilliant record of achievement in battle and I am proud indeed to have
them in this command. I wish that we might have many more like them."

Members of the 65th Infantry who distinguished themselves:
Col. Carlos Betances Ramriez, the first Puerto Rican to command a
Battalion in Korea.
Staff Sgt. Modesto Cartagena, the most decorated Puerto Rican
Brigadier General Antonio Rodriguez Balinas,

U.S.
Army, was the first commander of the Office of the First U.S. Army Deputy
Command.
Major General Juan Cesar Cordero Davila, U.S. Army, commanding officer
of the 65th Infantry Regiment during the Korean War becoming one of the
highest ranking ethnic officers in the Army.
Brigadier General Luis R. Esteves,U.S. Army, organized the
Puerto Rican National Guard
Master Sgt. Pedro Rodriguez, awarded two
Silver Star Medals in seven days.

Robert Gonzalez's Photography Serves the Military

061016-N-7777O-401 Yokosuka, Japan (Oct. 16, 2006) - Storekeeper 2nd Class Robert Gonzalez, a leading fleet logistics support representative at U.S. Fleet and Industrial Supply Center
Yokosuka, shows his off-duty photographs to Ms. Masayo Asano and Mr. Hiroyuki Ishihara of Yokosuka Far East Contracting Department. Gonzalez's photography is being used as part of a campaign to inform and educate people about duty in Japan. FISC Yokosuka campaign to promote duty in Japan is being featured this month on its Navy Newsstand website, in the base newspaper Seahawk, and in an upcoming issue of The Navy Supply Corps Newsletter. U.S. Navy photo by Yohsuke Onda (RELEASED)

Veteran's Day - from a veteran

What does Veterans Day mean to me? As a Black American veteran of both the
Korean and Vietnam wars, Veteran's Day has special meaning to me. Not only
is it a day to remember how our freedom was bought and paid for, but equally
important, it is a time to remember how we have succeeded in ridding the world of murderous tyrants like Hitler and Saddam Hussein.

But for me as a Black American veteran who is also disabled, Veteran's Day
also marks a day of personal gratitude and accomplishment. It was the military that gave me a ticket out of the ghetto.

In 1950 at age 14, I enlisted in the only Black National Guard [Activated into the Six Army], outfit on the West Coast, and later enlisted in the
United States Air Force, serving in Vietnam from 1954 to 1958. My service
in Vietnam afforded me the GI Bill, and I went to the University of California at Berkeley on an Air Force GED where I received my Masters
degree 1974. The GI Bill also helped me purchase three homes for my family.
All-in-all, the military has provided a very good life for me, my children
and grandchildren!

For the record--Soldiers of Color were recipients of the Medal of
Honor, during WWII in Europe:

Appointed U.S. Marshal by President George W. Bush. His appointment was recommended by Arizona Senators John McCain and Jon Kyl.

Before his appointment as the U.S. Marshal, David Gonzales' prior experience was with:Arizona Department of Public Safety, Phoenix, AZ,
Commander, Chief of Staff
August 1995 to April 2002

Managed the operations of the Criminal Investigation Division. The Division was comprised of 350 detectives assigned statewide to the following units: Narcotics, Organized Crime, Gang Enforcement, Auto Theft, Intelligence, Special Operations (SWAT, canine, bomb disposal) and Governor Protection. The annual operating budget for the division was $17 Million.

Coordinated the handling of criminal issues throughout the State of Arizona and managed investigations using available resources, personnel and budget. Was also the liaison between the Department and the legislative and executive branches of government for issues affecting the Department’s criminal justice activities. Testified before the legislature on matters of concern to the Department.

Began career as a “beat” officer, became an undercover officer then moved up the ranks to assume command responsibilities for both the Organized Crime Bureau and the State Gang Task Force. Recognized nationally as an expert in the operation of multi-agency task forces, community and law enforcement activities to identify and reduce street gangs and identifying and investigating money laundering activities arising from criminal enterprises.

Professional Activities
• Executive Fellow - FBI, Washington, DC (1996) - top secret security clearance.
• Testified before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee regarding Federal Street Gang Legislation.
• Interim Chief of Police in City of South Tucson and in Bullhead City, Arizona.
• Member of Arizona Juvenile Justice Commission.
• Member of Arizona Drug and Gang Policy.
• Member of Arizona Latino Police Officer Association.
• Member of Arizona Highway Patrol Association.
• Member of International Association of Chiefs of Police.
• Member of Arizona Chiefs of Police.
• Member of International Motorcycle Gang Investigators Association.

Community Activities
• Board of Directors, Camp Fire Boys and Girls
• Board of Trustees, All Saints Episcopal Day School
• Valley Leadership, Class XX
• Arizona Town Hall
• Junior Warden, All Saints Episcopal Church
• Board of Directors, Project Prime, an ASU Project designed to prepare minority students for college.

Education
• February 2001 - Harvard University, John F. Kennedy School of Government - Executives in State and Local Government Program.
• 1995 - Executive Development Graduate Program, University of Southern California, Pasadena, California.
• 1997 - BS in Public Administration - University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona.

On June 14, 1971, Agent Morello purchased hashish during an undercover investigation in the city of Riverside. Immediately following the transaction, Rick was shot and killed by the principal suspect in the investigation.

Louis Quiroz was a quiet man who never boasted about
serving in the U.S. Army during World War I and II, but his son Michael A.
Quiroz always knew where his father's loyalties lay.

He would take Michael aside as a child and proudly pull
out a small, carefully folded American flag that he found in the trenches
while fighting in Germany and preserved in his army-issued sewing kit.

When Louis took Michael to Washington, D.C., their first
stop was Pershing Square, where Louis humbly stood in salute to General
John J. Pershing, in whose army he served during World War I.

When Gen. Douglas MacArthur gave his famous "Duty,
Honor, Country" speech in 1962, Michael recalls how his father sobbed
in front of the television.

"He was proud to be in the Army and to represent
this country," says Michael, 53, a Huntington Beach resident.
"It may not be much to a lot of people now … but in that day and
age for somebody like my father that was not only his career, it was his
life."

In many ways Louis Quiroz, who passed away in 1968, was
like many of today's veterans for whom duty, honor and country always came
first. Yet, Louis also stood apart in one very unusual way.

Mexico was his country of birth, and before fighting in
Pershing's Army, he fought against him as a soldier in Gen. Francisco
Villa's army during the Mexican Revolution.

"In the Mexican revolution, they were fighting for
their freedom, and when that freedom became so choked and convoluted, they
had to come here for the same thing," says Michael. "They did
what came naturally. They went out again (during World War I) to fight for
their freedom."

Intrigued by his father's experiences as a veteran of
two nations' armies, Michael decided this fall to write a book that sheds
light on the experiences of other U.S. veterans who, like Louis, fought in
the Mexican Revolution, then crossed the border and took up arms to fight
on behalf of the United States.

"I love John Wayne movies, I love John Ford movies.
I love cowboy movies … but nothing, nothing that I've ever seen or read
comes into comparison with what these old U.S. cavalry soldiers had. It's
an amazing story," says Michael, who is national director of
government relations for the International Code Council, a nonprofit that
represents government officials on building-code issues.

Part of the inspiration for his project came from
reading a book titled "Ringside Seat to a Revolution: An Underground
Cultural History of El Paso and Juarez: 1893-1923" by author David
Dorado Romo. The book, says Michael, gave him an understanding of what
Mexicans were experiencing in El Paso during the pre-World War I era, a
time when Mexican lynchings were common and a backlash against Mexican
immigrants swept the region.

"The parallels between then and now are amazing.
While obviously a lot has changed in terms of human rights, a lot hasn't
changed," says Quiroz. "My dad never, ever complained about
anything in terms of what he went through, although we knew he had it
difficult. How difficult, I'm just now starting to find out after all
these years."

Even today, Michael says, many are unaware of the
contributions that Mexicans have made to the United States, which is why
he wants to share his father's story.

Born in 1897 in Leon, Guanajuato, as Luis Quiroz,
Michael's father was forced to leave his home at a young age and joined
Villa's army in northern Mexico. For reasons still unknown to Michael,
Luis left Villa's Northern Division army and crossed the border to live
with his grandmother in El Paso, Texas, around 1915 or 1916. He enlisted
in the U.S. Army in 1917 as a cavalry/infantry soldier and was deployed to
Europe in 1918, at which time he changed his name to Louis. He then became
a U.S. citizen after the war.

At the time there were jobs in El Paso that Louis could
have pursued or work as a bracero harvesting crops, but instead he opted
to fight for freedom. It's something that many other Mexicans chose as
well, as Michael discovered last week on a research trip to El Paso. A
series of books titled "Soldiers of the Great War" detailed
those killed or wounded in action during World War I, and in was in those
books that Michael found that many from Texas had Spanish surnames.

"It was very moving to go through as you see these
faces: Killed in action, died of disease; Morales, Gutierrez," says
Michael.

Despite facing discrimination while serving in the Army,
Louis retired as a master sergeant after almost 31 years of military
service, including his work as a topographical surveyor for the Army Corp
of Engineers.

"Dad didn't care if he was an American or a Mexican
when he joined the Army," says Michael. "People don't leave
Mexico or any another country to come here for any other reason than to
seek a better life. His life was the Army."

Cabrera's opinions on local news appear every Tuesday
and Thursday. She is a former metro reporter who has covered issues
including immigration and higher education. Contact her at 714 -796-3649
or ycabrera@ocregister.com

This is a poem
being sent from a Marine to his Dad. Written in March 23, 2003,
received from Salvador del Valle on November 30, 2006. Let us all
pray for our soldiers.

"Hey
Dad, Do me a favor and label this "The Marine and send it to
everybody on your email list. Even leave this letter in it. I want this
rolling all over the US ; I want every home reading it. Every eye seeing
it. And every heart to feel it. So can you please send this for me? I
would but my email time isn't that long and I don't have much time anyway.

You know what Dad? I wondered what it would be like to truly understand
what JFK said in His inaugural speech. "When the time comes to
lay down my life for my country, I do not cower from this responsibility.
I welcome it."

Well, now I know. And I do. Dad, I welcome the opportunity to do what I
do. Even though I have left behind a beautiful wife, and I will miss the
birth of our first born child, I would do it 70 times over to fight for
the place that God has made for my home. I love you all and I miss you
very much. I wish I could be there when Sandi has our baby, but tell her
that I love her, and Lord willing, I will be coming home soon.

Give Mom a great big hug from me and give one to yourself too. Aaron"

THE MARINE

We all came together,
Both young and old
To fight for our freedom,
To stand and be bold.

In the midst of all evil,
We stand our ground,
And we protect our country
From all terror around.

Peace and not war,
Is what some people say.
But I'll give my life,
So you can live the American way.

I give you the right
To talk of your peace.
To stand in your groups,
and protest in our streets.

But still I fight on,
I don't bitch, I don't whine.
I'm just one of the people
Who is doing your time.

I'm harder than nails,
Stronger than any machine.
I'm the immortal soldier,
I'm a U.S. MARINE!

So stand in my shoes,
And leave from your home.
Fight for the people who hate you,
With the protests they've shown.
Fight for the stranger,
Fight for the young.
So they all may have,
The greatest freedom you've won.

Fight for the sick,
Fight for the poor
Fight for the cripple,
Who lives next door.

But when your time comes,
Do what I've done.
For if you stand up for freedom,
You'll stand when the fight's done.

Chapter III The South Side of San Antonio By Sylvia Villarreal Bisnar
Notes from Above Ground, from an Original Chicano by Frank Sifuentes
Big Gobble, No Trouble by Ben Romero

CHAPTER III

The South Side
of San Antonio

By Sylvia Villarreal Bisnar

In the summer of 1942 we started
making preparations to move to the south side of San
Antonio. While house hunting, my dad found the house of their dreams; a
nice two-story Colonial story house. It was located on Castillo Street
in a nice neighborhood that had big older houses. It was close to the
schools and everything seemed perfect. My dad was making good money as a
meat salesman, and we could afford a nice home. He looked at the house
alone first and decided this was the house they would buy, if my mother
liked it.

My dad’s complexion was fair and his
hair was red. He did not look Mexican at all. But, the following
afternoon when my mother came to look at the house, the owner took one
look at her, turned away, and stammered, “I’m sorry, but the house
has been sold to someone else.” Discrimination had followed us like a
black cloud to the south side. You can only image how my parents felt,
but they said nothing and left. They were accustomed to this sort of
treatment by now.

The ironic part of this story is that
the ultimate buyers of that house turned out to be Mexican too, but
their last name was “Brown.” I guess the seller didn’t know that
Mexicans don’t always have Mexican last names even if their complexion
is dark.

Anyway, my parents found another house
two blocks away on the same street. Now, every time they passed the
first house, they were reminded of the fact that Mexicans were not
wanted in that neighborhood. But we stayed.

We liked the new house very much and
quickly got settled. It was a big, one-story house with a big porch in
front that wrapped around the side. My dad put in a swing in the corner
and we loved to swing on it in warm summer nights. The backyard was big
with two big pecan trees we could climb on. And in the fall, especially
after a windy night, we would run out and gather pecans which we would
crack peel and eat right away.

Since World War II was going on, my
parents decided that my mother could easily find a job at Kelly Field to
pay off the house. After all, it cost $2,000, a huge amount of money in
those days. My parents worked hard and did not like to owe anyone. It
bothered them to have a mortgage.

When my mother applied for the job,
she was asked, “What can you do?”

“Clean houses and make clothes,”
she responded.

“Do you cut out patterns when you
make clothes?” she was asked.

“Of course I do.”

“Well, we will make you a sheet
metal worker. Instead of cutting patterns for dresses, you will be
cutting out patterns for airplanes.”

My mother worked only long enough to
pay off the house. She wanted to stay home and take care of her children
and her new home. The house was paid for in six months.

I started second grade in a new school
that year. It was fun and exciting, and I quickly made new friends. I
had a whole new neighborhood to play in. There was a vacant lot behind
the fenced back yard of the house. If I went through the back yard, cut
through the vacant lot, and across the street, there was a 5 & 10
cent store where they sold candy. And, next door to that was a bakery,
where you could buy three sweet rolls with chopped nuts on top for only
12 cents. On Saturday mornings, my mother would often send one of us to
buy sweet rolls for breakfast. What a treat.

Another thing we liked to do was watch
the convoys of military trucks, tanks and jeeps that went by our house.
The military had to pass our street to get from Fort Sam Houston to
Kelly Field. When we heard the “rumble,” we would run to the corner
and stand at attention and watch. The military airplanes also passed
over our house and I would run outside to watch. “When I grow up I
want to be a soldier,” I would say. “You’re a girl,” my sister
always reminded me. “Girls aren’t soldiers.”

The vacant lot was a great place for
kids to play in. Playing Tarzan or Hide and Seek were two of my favorite
games. Sometimes we would hide from each other and tell secrets. Our
garage was detached from the house and often (when our parents weren’t
looking) my brother and I would climb up on the roof to hide from my
sister.

On hot summer nights, my dad would
make a bed for us on top of our picnic table under the pecan trees. I
remember that it was fun to look at the black leaves against the sky to
see what forms they would take.

“I see an angel.” “I see a dog.
I see a lion.” That would go on until we fell asleep. But, in the
early morning hours when the dew began to fall and it got chilly, we
would all go inside to sleep in our warm cozy beds.

I remember that on cold winter
mornings, my Dad always came into our bedroom early to turn on the
heater so the room would be warm when we got up to get dressed for
school an hour later. The kitchen was in the back of the house, and
after we were dressed, we would run through the cold living and dining
rooms into the warm kitchen where there would be three bowls of hot
steaming cereal on the table. I can still remember the warm feeling I
got when I saw the steam rising from the bowls. Mother made oatmeal,
cream of wheat and sometimes even my favorite, “atole.” Atole is a
hot cereal made from the masa that is used to make tortillas, and my
mother either added chocolate or vanilla for flavor. A crust would form
on the top when it started to cool. I loved to eat that part first.

The people on our street were all
elderly and we would often hear, “Don’t make so much noise. Don’t
skate on the sidewalk in front of my house. Go skate in the street.”
Miss McCloud was the worst. She lived right next door to us, looked
about 12 feet tall, was skinny and was really, really old. Her feet were
long and skinny too, and she wore those black laced-up shoes that only
old people wore. My mother told us that they were size 12 AAAA. We were
all afraid of her. When we were outside playing, she would come onto her
porch and watch us to make sure we wouldn’t come onto her lawn or
skate in front of her house.

After we grew up and moved away Miss
Mc Cloud suddenly became very nice and friendly. Whenever I visited my
mom and dad, she would often come to the fence to say hello. She even
allowed my two-year-old son to visit with her and invited him to dinner
one Sunday. I couldn’t believe it. I think she changed because she
missed us. She even started feeding our dog, Fritzie, he stayed with her
until we came to visit. It must have been lonely for her living alone
all those years. We were all very sad when she died. I can still
remember the spinning wheel she kept by her fireplace. Robert B. Green
Elementary was the school I went to. Because of my upbringing I was a
model student. In every class, I would be chosen by the teacher to do
different things. I was hall monitor; I would ring the bell for recess;
I was on the student council. Although I didn’t mind doing those
things, what I really wanted to do was be a crossing guard like the
boys. “You’re a girl. Only boys get to do that.” Oh how I hated
those words. Being a girl was no fun.

There was another incident that
occurred at school that didn’t make such sense to me.
When my sister, Lydia, was in fourth grade she had a playmate by the
name of Joanne. Well, Joanne came to our house to play one day and the
following Saturday invited my sister to play at her house. My sister
wasn’t gone very long when she came home crying.

“Joanne’s mother sent me home. She
says Joanne is not allowed to play with Mexicans.”

“Well, don’t go over there to play
anymore. Just play with Joanne at school,” my mother told her.

About a month later at a PTA meeting,
my mother ran into an old friend from her school days. While they were
talking, the friend called her daughter over to introduce her to my
mother.

“But, Mama” she said, “That’s
Lydia’s mother.” Joanne’s mother turned beet red and was very
embarrassed. She didn’t know what to say except “I thought you were
French because your last name was “Buquor.” Then she started blaming
the prejudice on her “German” mother who lived with her.

When we got home from school, I asked
my mother, “Aren’t we at war with Germany? Why aren’t we mad at
the Germans?” Why don’t they like us because we’re Mexican? There
is no difference between us. This whole thing didn’t make sense to me
at all. She replied: “That’s just the way things are. You will get
use to it. But I never did.

You can call me el capitolo kid II, the first is Ramon Moncivais WHO
not more than a couple of years ago decided to write a novel called
Beneath The Shadow of the Capital. And it is a jewel, one that I
proclaim shines brighter for me than it does for Raymond.

Because I have been threatening to write a book for 40 years, AND he
has shown me how it is done! He made up his mind not more than a couple of years ago to write his
memoirs. Why don't you make a book?, And publish it yourself, because even if
you find a publisher, it would turn into a bottom of the list priority
someone told him.

And he spoke to me at length about it. It is my hope Beneath The
Shadow of the Capital will be read by thousands: particularly those who are in education
and employment.

Raymond does not pretend to be a polished writer. And folks who read
him might want to pray for a couple of hours before they start because
it has Biblical significance (i.e. the last will be first and the first
shall be last!); plus this way they will enjoy the beauty of its direct
style: with refined simplicity. A refreshing thing in our Star Wars era.
Don't look for stereotypical English literature. Because though it is
written in English it is a

Chicano tale. Any reader who thinks they could have done it much 'better', had
better not read it, because they will not get it anyway.

BIG GOBBLE, NO TROUBLE
By
Ben Romero
Author of the Chicken Chisme/Chistes Series

I looked up from where I was pulling weeds and saw two neighbor boys running along the country road, their unkempt long hair bobbing up and down with every stride. I wondered what mischief they were into, since the brothers were notorious for getting into trouble. They turned and ran up my long driveway, huffing and puffing, and stopped, inches before running into me.

"What's up?" I asked.

"My mom wants to know if you want Mimi," blurted the younger brother.

The older boy shoved him. "I said I was going to ask him, stupid."

I was wary of anything these boys said or did. I'd recently seen them driving their dad's riding mower across fields and on the roadway. Their dad ended up chaining it to a tree when he was away. "Why are you getting rid of Mimi?"

"Mom said we have to find a home for her," said the older boy, brushing back his hair and wiping sweat from his face with the bottom of his stained t-shirt.

"But last time I saw your mom she was bragging about how much you boys love Mimi, and about how you let her sleep inside the house and everything."

The younger boy beamed. "Yup, We still give her a bath everyday."

"A bath? I don't recommend that for young turkeys. I've heard it can have crippling effects on them."

They looked at each other. "Maybe that's what happened to Mimi."

"What do you mean?" I asked.

The older boy looked down and stomped on an ant. "Mimi doesn't walk around anymore. She just sits and eats all the time, and gets fat."

"Mom said you might take her anyway," chimed his brother.

I recalled the conversation my wife and I'd had with the boys' father. He told us he'd received the bird as a birthday gift - a turkey chick and a bag of mash from his buddies at work.

"Yeah, go ahead and bring her over," I sighed. "Put her in the pen behind the gate. There's straw in it already."

The younger boy turned and ran like a gazelle in the direction of his house. He was at the end of our driveway before the older boy noticed. "I'll beat you home!" he called, cutting across the field at full gallop.

Andy, my ten year-old son, cocked his head and narrowed his eyes. "What are we going to do with that turkey?"

"I haven't decided," I said. "She's bigger than I thought."

"She's clean right now, Dad. But if she can't walk, she's gonna end up pooping all over and sitting on it. I'm not gonna clean it."
My daughter, Victoria, took the practical approach. "Why don't we just eat her? She's fatter than our biggest rooster."

My kids were not strangers to the slaughter of barnyard animals. Over the years they'd helped me butcher chickens and rabbits at various times. It was a necessary step in the preparation of meat for the table.

"Why don't you go inside and ask Grandma what she thinks," I said.

Both kids raced towards the house, elbowing each other to see who would get inside the front door first. My mother-in-law appeared shortly, carrying my infant daughter. My three year old son, Gabriel trailed behind.

"She's pretty, Benny." my mother-in-law commented, "and fat."

"Do you think she's ready for the platter?" I asked. "She's crippled and I don't want to waste the meat."

"I think she would make excellent turkey móle. If you want to butcher her today, I'll serve a feast tomorrow. I'll make a big pot of rice and ask Evelyn to buy some rolls."
"It will be no trouble," I assured her.

"Big gobble, no trouble," cheered Victoria. My mouth watered. Andy and Victoria jumped and hollered. Gabriel clapped his hands, although he didn't know what we were celebrating.

Death to the bird came quick. I stretched her neck over an old stump and severed her head with a hatchet. Although her wings rustled about in spasms and the rest of the body moved about for a minute or so, her suffering was over. Within the hour, we had a neat pile of turkey feathers in a bag (Andy wanted them for making feather darts with corn cobs), and a fine, naked bird ready for the pot.

I've tasted great móle over the years, but this one was outstanding. The crippled turkey leg was blemished, so I set it aside. My mother-in-law cooked it for our dog, Chivito.
At first we were careful not to tell the neighbors we'd eaten Mimi, so every time they asked about her we'd respond, "She's good, really good." But eventually our kids told other kids at school and the news got around. That's okay. They got over it.
Twenty years later, as we prepared our Thanksgiving feast in 2005, the story of Mimi was told to our grandkids.

MEXICO’S
19th CENTURY SOCIAL COMMENTATOR:
Vicente Riva Palacio, first in a series of
Translations by Ted Vincent

With this story, THE MULES OF HIS EXCELLENCY translated
from Spanish by Ted Vincent, we start a new series, translations of
some of the literary works of Vicente Riva Palacio.

Ted Vincent is a graduate of Manual Arts High
School, LACC, UCLA and UC Berkeley, receiving his MA at the latter. He
taught a specialized course in "Black Power Origins" at UC
Berkeley from 1968 to 1972, and at UCLA 1972-1975. His research for
these classes was the basis for his books "Black Power and the
Garvey Movement" "Voices of a Black Nation: Political
Journalism of the Harlem Renaissance," and "Keep Cool: The
Black Activists who Built the Jazz Age." Since 1990 he has lived
much of the time in Mexico where he became intrigued with the
nation’s multi-cultural and multi-ethnic composition. On this theme
Vincent produced "The Legacy of Vicente Guerrero,"and has
contributed articles to "Somos Primos," "La
Opinion," and other journals, while lecturing throughout
California, and in Mexico, Cuba, Chicago, New York, Seattle, and
Anchorage, Alaska.

Fascination with the literature of 19th
Century Mexico led Vincent to collect works by Vicente Riva Palacio,
Manuel Payno, Ignacio Altamirano and others. Earlier, he collected for
the Biblioteca Nacional in Managua, Nicaragua, over seven hundred
clippings from Latin American newspapers pertaining to the 1927-1934
struggles of Augusto Sandino; and for the Universidad Veracruzana in
Xalapa, he compiled a bibliography of the holdings on Veracruz at the
Bancroft Library. From research for his sports history, "Mudville’s
Revenge," Vincent amassed data now in the Baseball Hall of Fame
Library, and Basketball Hall of Fame Library.

Vincent lives in Berkeley and has seven children, ten
grandchildren and a great grandson who is in competition for most the
varied background prize: Cherokee, Mexican, Austrian, African,
Portuguese, Tahitian, Scotch-Irish, French and Jewish.

MEXICO’S 19th CENTURY SOCIAL COMMENTATOR

Vicente Riva Palacio, 1832-1896, produced short
stories, novels, theater plays, political discourses, books of
poetry, history texts and was the director of a four thousand page
encyclopedia "Mexico a traves de los Siglos." The breadth
of Riva Palacio’s interests is in the subtitle of the massive
compendium, "History general and complete of the development
social, political, religious, military, artistic, scientific and
literary of Mexico from the most remote antiquity to the present
era."

Although the encyclopedia continues to fill library
shelves and to be periodically reprinted, it is probably Riva
Palacio’s stories and novels for which he is most fondly
remembered. His tales illuminate historical incidents with drama,
whimsy, irony, and on occasion sarcasm, but rarely with rancor.
Although a bibliophile, he was more at home in a crowd than a
library, and served as Mayor of Mexico City, and a state Governor.
His social disposition enabled him to gather a nationwide collection
of scholars in the early 1880s that he put to work on the
encyclopedia. That his mind was never far from an idea to put on
paper can be surmised from his years as General in the Army during
the mid-1860s when Mexico fought the efforts of Archduke Maximilian
to establish a French colony in the nation. One of Riva Palacio’s
lieutenants complained that the General "could not go five
minutes without telling a story or a joke," When Maximilian
conceded, Riva Palacio was one of the three generals at the event to
accept the surrender. In his military career he could be
said to copy that of his grandfather, President Vicente Guerrero,
who led the Mexican army during its tough last years of the
independence war.

Below is a short story about mules and the problems
among construction workers on the great Mexico City cathedral -
built over decades spanning the end of the 16th and
opening decades of the 17th Centuries.

Ted Vincent

THE MULES OF HIS EXCELLENCY

by Vicente Riva Palacio

In the grand expanse of New Spain one can state with
certainty that there did not exist a pair of mules equal to those
that pulled the carriage of His Excellency, el Senor Viceroy, and
this following the times of the conquistadors when the breeding of
mules and their effectiveness in hauling cargo was so effective that
the Kings of Spain, fearful that the popularity would cause the
abandonment of the breeding of horses and of military power, ordered
that the principle residents had to maintain horses ready for
combat. Thus, the mules of the Viceroy were envied by all of the
rich and were the despair of the cattle ranchers of the capital of
the colony.

They were tall, with chests as wide as the largest
yoke, their four legs pranced as nervously as a reindeer, and their
bony heads had motionless black eyes resembling those of a snake.
Their color was a shade of chestnut, although in certain light
golden, and their lightest trot appeared equal to the gallop of a
horse.

Moreover, the pair was of such nobility and so well
trained that one could say of the coachman of His Excellency, that
to drive them he needed nor more than the strings of a spider, or,
perhaps, two light strips of silk.

His Excellency arose each day at dawn, and awaited
the coach at the foot of the stairs of the palace, he descended,
pausing to contemplate with pride the incomparable pair, he entered
the carriage, reverently crossed himself, and the mules shot forth,
their hoofs sparking the stones encountered on the road.

After a long excursion through the neighborhoods of
the city, the Viceroy arrived at a little past eight in the morning
in front of the cathedral, which in these times buzzed with the
activity accompanying its construction.

The work was well along in progress, the workers
comprising a multitude of teams that generally divided by
nationality. There were a few Spaniards, others Indigenous, others
Mestizos, and others Blacks, each in ones own group, the better to
avoid the fights which were common between the workers of
contrasting races.

* * * *

Among the groups two stood out for their promptness
and precision, for which they were entrusted to delicate and
difficult duties, and curiously, one of these groups was composed of
Spaniards and the other of Indios.

Leading the Spaniards was a robust forty year old
from Asteria named Pedro Noriega. He was a man of bad temper yet the
likes of his soft heart could hardly be found in the colony.

Luis de Rivera governed as leader of the group of
Indios, because his appearance was more that of an Indio than a
Spaniard, although he was a first generation mestizo and was at home
equally with the Castilian language as with the Nahuatl of Mexican
Indigenous.

It was not the wish of Luis de Rivera to be known as
an angel. He was restless, quarrelsome and on more than one occasion
had come to the attention of the constables.

Unfortunately, the two groups had to work in close
proximity to one another, and when Pedro Noriega became irritated by
his workers, which happened many times a day, he shouted at them in
thunderous voice, "Such Spaniards. You are like Indios."

But the phrase had hardly been uttered than Rivera,
shouted at his workers, whether or not it was the case, "Such
Indios, like animals, you’re like Spaniards."

Nature being what it is, the shouts brought fatal
results. The directors of the project did not bother themselves to
separate the groups, and as the insults repeated, one afternoon
Noriega and Rivera arrived, not only with clenched fists, but with
arms, because each had prepared for a showdown, and receiving the
worst part was the mestizo, who lay dead from a bullet.

The result was a riot and it was necessary to bring
troops from the Palace to calm the factions. The combatants
separated, and the corpse of Luis de Rivera was carried step by step
with the Asturian at his side, surrounded by constables, who took
their charge to the city jail.

* * * *

The Viceroy was quite indignant; and the members of
the City Council demanded action to make Noriega an example, which
could please the Viceroy, who had received a Royal Decree demanding
that crimes of Spaniards against natives of the country be punished
with greater severity, and before fifteen days had passed the
process was completed and Noriega sentenced to hang.

Futile were the efforts of neighbors to win a pardon
for his life, as was the flattery bestowed upon the Viceroy, the
testimonials by the women, and the influence of Senor Arch-Bishop.
The Viceroy, firm and resolute, rejected all, giving for his reason
the need to make a singularly impressive example.

The Noriega family, that had been reduced to a wife
and a pretty daughter of eighteen years, grieved hard in the manner
of the populace before Herod and Pilot, and long hours were passed
at the foot of the steps of the Palace. Their weeping failed to
soften the heart of His Excellency.

Often they waited at the step of the coach for the
Viceroy to come and mount, and they recounted their sorrows, and
their failure to have them acknowledged, to the coachman of the
Viceroy, an Andalusian, young and single.

Naturally, the Andalusian was softened by the tears
of the mother, as by the deep black eyes of the daughter. But he did
not dare to speak to the Viceroy understanding that those of his
station did not put themselves forward, and he set aside even a
thought of doing so.

The night before the execution came, and the women
still had the strength to mutter through their tears, "We know
that God will bring a miracle. We know that God will bring a
miracle.

And the poor women saw a ray of hope, because during
great misfortune, those who failed to dream of in miracles always
receive the result they expected.

The terrible morning for the execution arrived, and
Noriega left the jail, covered with scapulars, with eyes bandaged,
guided by the arm by the priests, their words evoking in him a fatal
trance, and causing dread among the spectators, who followed in an
immense crowd while the town crier shouted at each corner,

"This is the justice deserved by this man, for
the homicide committed against the person of Luis Rivera. That he be
hanged. Thus it will be, thus he will pay."

* * * * *

On this particular morning the Viceroy mounted his
carriage, worried, not bothering to make his accustomed inspection
of the mules, perhaps fighting off over whether the act he ordered
was one of forcefulness or cruelty.

The coachman knew the route and he shook the reins
and the mules lightly began to trot. Around a quarter hour passed
with the Viceroy immobile in the back of his carriage engrossed in
his meditations; but suddenly he felt a violent jolt, and the pace
of the animals quickened greatly. At first, he gave little
attention, but with each moment the speed of the carriage increased.

His Excellency thrust his head out one of the windows
and asked the coachman, "What’s going on?"

"Senor, something has terrified the animals.
They will not obey."

And the carriage flew through streets, alleys and
plazas, somehow turning corners without hitting the walls, and if
they had not run precisely disaster awaited for sure.

The Viceroy was a man of heart, and he resolved to
await the results of the ride, taking care only to squeeze himself
in a corner of his carriage and close his eyes.

Suddenly the mules stopped. The Viceroy once more put
his head out the window and he saw around him a multitude of men,
women and children shouting happily.

"A pardon, a pardon."

The carriage of the Viceroy had arrived at the plaza
to which Noriega had been conducted for his execution; and it being
the law that if a King in the metropolis, or a Viceroy in the
colony, encounters a man about to be executed, the man deserves a
pardon. Noriega, with such a good fortune was consequently pardoned.

The Viceroy returned to the Palace, not without a
certain feeling of satisfaction, for he had saved the live of a man
without diminishing his authority.

The pardoned Noriega was transported temporarly to
jail, and everyone was in accord that a miracle had been wrought by
Our Sister of Guadalupe, to whom the family of Noriega was
reverently devoted.

It is not known if the coachman believed in the
miracle, although he was assured that there was one. What can be
said with certainty is that three months afterwards, he married the
daughter of Noriega, and that His Excellency gave a grand present at
the wedding.

Word of the pardon spread widely to the extent that a
Royal Degree was made declaring that on the day of a public
execution Viceroys were not allowed to leave their Palace.

Since everyone now knew the abilities of mules.

Translation by Ted Vincent

Documentation of problems between ethnic groups on
the Mexico City cathedral work site includes a decree by Judge Pedro
de Vergara Gaviria of the city council court in 1624 that removed
blacks from construction jobs, the reasons including "the bad
treatment that the blacks have given to the Indios."

Julian Nava - The Journey
of His Name
By
John P Schmal
HispanicVista.com, June 20, 2005

According to the "Population Research website, 19,300 persons
living in the United States bear the last name Nava, giving it a rank of
Number 1803 among American surnames. However, among Spanish surnames in
the United States, Nava ranks Number 213. By comparison, Rodriguez - with
a shared population of 631,000 persons - is Number 22 among all American
surnames. Gonzalez - with a population of 457,400 - is Number 38, while
Sanchez (with 231,500 persons) ranks at Number 99.

The United States Census Bureau - in its Technical Working Paper No. 13
- ranked Nava as Number 198 among Spanish surnames in America in 1996.
According to "Population Research," the surname Nava is even
less common in Spain, where it has a shared population of 1,900
individuals and is ranked at Number 599.

The surname Nava is a very ancient noble line that originated in
Asturias in northern Spain. The etymology of the surname Nava is discussed
in great detail by the García Carraffa's Diccionario de Apellidos.
According to this source, Nava has the same origin and root as the Asturia
y Alvarez line from Asturias. They share a common origin and history,
stretching deep into the ancient northern kingdoms of Asturias and León.

Individuals with the surname Nava - over time - made their way
southward into the Spanish provinces of Castilla, Andalusia and
Extremadura. Andalusia, boasting almost 34,000 square miles in area, is
the southernmost and most extensive region of Spain. Sevilla, Córdoba and
Granada all lay within its boundaries. Castilla and Extremadura are
located within Spain's arid central region, adjacent to Andalusia.

One of the Andalusian branches of the Nava surname, residing in
Granada, earned noble status as the Counts of Noroña. This branch of the
family is discussed in some detail in Diccionario de Apellidos. Alvaro
Vásquez de Nava, one of the conquerors of Granada during the Fifteenth
Century and a member of the Order of Santiago, served a distinguished
career as a cavalryman. He was noted for his great valor and received by
Queen Isabel several times. Alvaro and his son Alonso Vásquez de Nava
established a new branch of the Nava line in Tenerife, Canary Islands in
1535.

The earliest known Nava to arrive in the Western Hemisphere from Spain
was Diego de Nava who left Spain on September 23, 1512 for the West
Indies. Diego had been born in Palencia in the northern part of Old
Castilla. At this time, Spain had not yet discovered the existence of
Mexico or Peru, so Diego's ultimate destination - if he left the West
Indies at all - is not known.

The second Nava to set foot in the Americas left Spain on May 19, 1517.
This pioneer's name was Diego de Nava and he was a native of Sevilla in
southern Spain. He was followed in June 1527 by Juan de Nava, a resident
of Quesada, in the land of Ubeda in the southern province of
Andalusia.

Then in 1554, Alonso de Nava and his wife Juana de Godoy embarked from
Spain for the young and prosperous colony of Nueva España (Mexico). Later
in the year, Juan de Nava - the son of Juana de Nava and Maria Gonzalez
and a resident of Sevilla - departed from Spain with his wife Gregoria
Rodriguez. Both explorers left Spain with the intention of making their
homes in Nueva España.

Three years later in 1557, Francisco de Nava, the son of Juan de Nava
and

Catalina Gonzalez and a resident of Sevilla, arrived in Mexico. Not
long after this, Juan de Nava, the son of Juan de Nava and Catalina
Gonzalez, left Sevilla with his wife Maria Hernandez. On July 1578, Juan
de Nava, a native of Santillana, Spain, the son of Pedro de Nava and
Aldonza Pérez, left Spain for Nueva Galicia as a servant of Doctor Juan
de Pareja, a judge of the Audiencia (Government) of Nueva Galicia.

Although several Nava's left Spain to go to Peru and Central America,
it is believed that several settled the Nueva Galicia area of Mexico,
which was then composed primarily of the present-day states of Jalisco and
Zacatecas. It is likely that some of the Nava's living in the United
States and Mexico today may be descended from some of these early
voyagers.

Eventually, the newly-settled areas around northern Jalisco,
Aguascalientes, and Zacatecas began to receive significant numbers of
Nava's. A significant cluster of Nava's developed in southwestern
Zacatecas near the towns of Jerez, Juanchorrey, and Tepetongo. The large
population of Nava's living in Tepetongo seems to derive in large part
from Rafael de Nava and his wife Maria Josefa Romana Correa, who lived
around 1750. The lives and accomplishments of the Nava's in Tepetongo has
been discussed in some detail by José León Robles de la Torre's 1999
publication Filigranas, Fundaciones y Genealogias, Tepetongo, Zacatecas.

Two notable persons bearing the Nava surname have earned an important
place in American culture. These two individuals - the filmmaker Gregory
Nava and the educator/writer Julian Nava - are discussed below:

The screenwriter and film director, Gregory Nava, was born on April 10,
1949 in San Diego, California of Basque-Mexican ancestry. He attended the
University of California in Los Angeles, where he had studied filmmaking.
At the age of 28, Mr. Nava directed Confessions of Amans, which he had
cowritten with his wife, Anna Thomas. This movie - released in 1977 -
described the tale of a tragic medieval love affair.

Mr. Nava and Ms. Thomas also wrote El Norte, which was released by
Cinecom International in 1984. El Norte, which was Mr. Nava's third film,
was praised by film critics and audiences alike. The movie depicted the
journey of a Guatemalan brother and sister who flee their native land
after the murder of their father (a spokesman for land reform) and travel
through Mexico to the United States to find work. The film highlights the
glaring contrast between a Third-World impoverished Mexico and the
prosperity of the industrialized United States. After experiencing some
problems with cultural adjustment, the brother and sister eventually find
some measure of success in their adopted land.

In the mid-1990s, Mr. Nava wrote and directed Mi Familia, My Family and
Selena, both of which featured the outstanding acting talents of Edward
James Olmos, Jennifer Lopez, Constance Marie and Jacob Vargas. Mi Familia
is the three-generation chronicle of the Sanchez family of East Los
Angeles spanning a sixty year period that starts in the 1920s when the
father leaves Michoacán.

Selena was released in 1997 to critical acclaim. The movie follows the
life of Abraham Quintanilla as he molds and guides the career of his
talented daughter, Selena Quintanilla. Nava's film brilliantly portrays
Selena's charisma and perseverance as she climbs to the top of the Tejano
music scene, only to be murdered in 1995 by the President of her fan club.

Most critics agree that Mr. Nava, as a director of films, has an
uncanny knack for capturing the epic drama of ordinary lives. Today,
Gregory Nava continues to be involved in movie and television production.

Julian Nava - from the Tepetongo Nava family - is one of the most
renowned and distinguished elder statesmen in the Hispanic community of
the United States. The child of poor Mexican immigrants, Julian rose
through years of hardship and hard work to achieve what no other Latino in
the United States had achieved before him: he was appointed to serve as
the first Mexican American ambassador to Mexico.

The great-grandfather of Julian Nava was Gregorio Nava Miranda, a
resident of Tepetongo, Zacatecas. On June 6, 1818, the 23-year-old Indian
Gregorio was married in Tepetongo to 17-year-old Margarita de Acosta, who
was of Spanish descent. Gregorio was the son of José Maria Nava and Maria
Gregoria Miranda. Gregorio and Margarita are believed to have had several
children, including José Julian Nava, who was baptized on February 19,
1822 in the Tepetongo Church. José Julian Nava is the grandfather of
Professor Julian Nava.

Among Professor Nava's ancestral surnames, the Salazar, Correa, Gusteo,
Casas, Carlos and Bañuelos ancestors are believed to be of predominantly
Spanish descent, while his Nava, Miranda, Rosales and Avila lines are
believed to be predominantly Indian in origin.

Julian Nava was born on June 19, 1927 in Los Angeles California, as the
second son of eight children of immigrant Zacatecas parents. His parents
had fled Mexico during the Mexican Revolution (1910-1920). Young Julian
attended public schools in the Mexican barrio of East Los Angeles, while
helping his family with migrant agricultural work. He volunteered for
naval service in World War II and served as a combat aircrewman.

Returning from the war, Julian first worked with his older brother in
the auto repair business. However, as a veteran of World War II, Julian
soon decided to utilize the G.I. Bill to get himself a college education.
He attended East Los Angeles Junior College, where he became student body
president. He moved on to Pomona College, where he received an A.B. degree
in 1951.

Receiving two scholarships, Julian attended Harvard University, from
which he received his Doctorate in History in 1955. Early on, he became an
instructor in English and U.S. History. In addition to teaching history as
an assistant professor at California State University at Northridge
(1957-1961), Professor Nava lectured in Puerto Rico for two years.

Professor Nava became an associate professor in 1961 and received the
status of full professor of history, starting in 1965. By this time, he
had earned a very respected place in the Los Angeles academic community.
So it was that, when he ran for a position on the Los Angeles Unified
School Board in 1967, he won an impressive victory, garnering a larger
majority than any Hispanic American candidate for office up to that time.

Julian Nava became the first Mexican American to serve on the school
board, at a time when school walkouts, boycotts, desegregation and
bilingual education were primary concerns to Los Angeles residents. He
served in this capacity from 1965 to 1980, dedicating a great deal of time
to the growing problems of a large urban school district.

With a growing concern about Mexican-American issues, Professor Nava
became involved in the Chicano Movement and served as a member of the
board of the Plaza de la Raza and the Hispanic Urban Center and on the
advisory committee of the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education
Fund (MALDEF).

Julian Nava's commitment to education and to his community earned him
the appointment as Ambassador to Mexico in January 1980 when President
Carter appointed him to that office. He served in this capacity until the
next year, when the newly-elected Reagan Administration replaced him with
John Gavin. At this time, Professor Nava returned to his teaching position
at Northridge.

In addition to his teaching and political careers, Julian Nava is the
author of many books dealing with Mexican-American history and issues. One
of his many works, Mexican Americans: Past, Present, and Future was
published in 1969 and has been used as a public school textbook.

Julian Nava's autobiography, Julian Nava: My Mexican American Journey
was published several years ago. His previously untold story was made
available to readers in the hopes of inspiring others to achieve a life
dedicated to education, commitment and perseverance.

David L. Word and R. Colby Perkins, Jr., Building a Spanish Surname
List for the 1990s - A New Approach to an Old Problem, Technical Working
Paper No. 13 (Washington, D.C.: Population Division, U.S. Bureau of the
Census, March 1996).

____________________________________________________________

John Schmal was born and raised in Los Angeles,
California. He attended Loyola-Marymount University in Los Angeles and
St. Cloud State University in Minnesota, where he studied Geography,
History and Earth Sciences and received two BA degrees.

John is an historian and a genealogist who
specializes in tracing lineages in Mexico, Puerto Rico, and the
Southwestern U.S.A. He is the coauthor of "Mexican-American
Genealogical Research: Following the Paper Trail to Mexico"
(Heritage Books, 2002). He has also coauthored several other books on
Mexican-American themes, all of them published by Heritage Books in
Maryland. As a volunteer consultant at the Los Angeles Family History
Center, he helps visitors in tracing their Mexican and Central American
roots. He is presently studying families from Aguascalientes and Jalisco.

John is an occasion contributer to hispanicvista.com
and an Associate Editor of www.somosprimos.com
and a Board member of the
Society of Hispanic Historical and Ancestral Research (SHHAR).
Presently, he is writing a book on the indigenous peoples of Mexico and
on the ports of entry along the Mexican-US border. He has a passionate
love of Mexican history and has been writing short histories of each
state, which are being compiled at the following link: http://www.houstonculture.org/mexico/states.html

Early in 2007, John will publish "The Journey to Latino Political
Representation," a book that describes the step-by-step journey of
Latinos to their political representation throughout the United States.
The preface to this book was written by Dr.
Edward E. Telles, the author of the award-winning, Race
in Another America: The Significance of Skin Color in Brazil.

Hispanic in History, American Revolution Re-enactors
The Descendents of Don Antonio de Galvez-y-Carvajal
Lorezno and the Turncoat wins 2006 Arizona Authors Literary Award
Buenos Aires Patriots of the American Revolutionary War, Part 2
Action Item: The Lost U.S. Presidents
Action item: Honorary Citizenship for Bernardo de Galvez

Hi Mimi,

On September 28, 2006 Northrop Grumman sponsored a Hispanic Heritage Month event in its northern Virginia facilities. The theme was
"Hispanic Contributions to the American Revolution" and Mr. Hector Diaz was the invited lecturer. Hispanics in History Cultural Organization, Inc. was the event organizer.

The activities included an opening march through the campus with re-enactors of the Spanish Louisiana Infantry Regiment and Maryland Loyalist, a lecture presented by Mr. Hector Diaz, and a tactical demonstration of 18th century warfare. The audience responded enthusiastically to the information provided. The tactical demonstration was the highlight with the drum rolls and the roar of muskets. We have had great success when presenting this theme to audiences of all ages and backgrounds. Most people are reasonable and fair, and when presented with "new" information about our history they respond favorably.

The "Regimiento de la Luisiana", which Governor/General Bernardo de Galvez
led through- out the American Revolution, had white uniforms with blue trimmings. The soldiers in red are the Maryland Loyalist who were allies of the British. The Maryland "casualty" is Peter Allen, a young enthusiastic re-enactor, and his photo is great.
Hispanics in History only represents Spanish forces but our good friends are always willing to show up for a good fight. Most reenacting groups collaborate and are good sports about participating in battles even though they represent the side that did not win. Thanks.
For more photos go to: http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/bonillaeliud/my_photos

The Descendents of Don Antonio de
Galvez-y-Carvajal

Compiled by John D. Inclan

Generation 11. ANTONIO1 DE GALVEZ-Y-CARVAJAL
He married ANA GALLARDO-JURADO.
Children of ANTONIO DE GALVEZ-Y-CARVAJAL and ANA GALLARDO-JURADO are:

Note: José
Bernardo de Gálvez Gallardo, visitor general of public finance in New
Spain, the second son of Antonio Gálvez y Carbajal and Ana Gallardo Jurado,
was born in Macharaviaya, Málaga, Spain, on January 2, 1720. His initial
interests, under the influence of the bishop of Málaga, led him to the
seminary, but he soon eschewed a priestly calling. After completing a degree
in law, Gálvez gained recognition as a successful attorney in Madrid. On
August 2, 1750, he married Lucía Romet y Pichelin, his first wife having
died without issue.

Gálvez's legal accomplishments won him a
royal appointment on November 25, 1764, as a civil and criminal justice (alcalde
de casa y corte) of Castile. In that capacity he came to know the
influential Conde de Aranda and Conde de Campomanes. After the visitor
general designate of New Spain died unexpectedly, in February 1765 José de
Gálvez received that post as well as honorary membership in the Council of
the Indies.

As visitor general of public finance, he
spent six years in New Spain (1765-71). His overarching powers were such
that he could make recommendations on general colonial policy and its
reform-recommendations that could not be contravened even by the viceroy.
Initially, Gálvez found himself at loggerheads with the Marqués de
Cruillas, who delayed reform for a time. But the recalcitrant viceroy was
replaced in 1766 by the more cooperative Marqués de Croix. In the second
half of his six-year sojourn, Gálvez turned his attention to the northern
frontier of New Spain. His specific reform programs included overhauling
revenue collection, strengthening crown monopolies, and expelling the
Jesuitsqv from the viceroyalty. The visitor general also
initiated the permanent settlement of Alta California.

When Gálvez returned to Spain in 1772, he
assumed various responsibilities as an honorary member of the Council of the
Indies and performed special services for King Charles III. In 1776 Don
José assumed the prestigious post of minister of the Indies, from which he
could direct the Bourbon reforms that affected the Spanish Empire from
Argentina to Texas. Changes in New Spain included establishment of the
Provincias Internasqv (1776), a huge, shifting governmental unit
that included Texas for the remainder of the colonial period. In the
previous year Gálvez married María de la Concepción Valenzuela, and from
that union came his sole heir, María Josefa.

Throughout much of his adult life José de
Gálvez suffered from serious emotional problems; one attack left him
incapacitated during his visitation in Sonora (1769-70). He died on June 17,
1787. distinguished kinfolk included an older brother, Matías de Gálvez,
who served as viceroy of New Spain, and a more famous nephew in Louisiana
and Texas, Bernardo de Gálvez,qv who succeeded his father as
viceroy in 1785. Texas Online History.

Child of JOSE-BERNARDO DE GALVEZ-Y-GALLARDO and MARIA-DE-LA-CONCEPCION
VALENZUELA is:

i. MARIA-JOSEFA3 DE GALVEZ-Y-VALENZUELA.

3. COUNT OF GALVEZ
MATIAS2 DE GALVEZ-Y-GALLARDO (ANTONIO1 DE
GALVEZ-Y-CARVAJAL) was born 1725 in Macharavialla, Malaga, Spain, and
died 03 Nov 1784 in Mexico City, Bernardo de
Galvez re-enactor
D. F., Mexico. He married MARIA-JOSEFA DE
MADRID.
Hector Diaz

Note: A Spanish general, governor of Guatemala (from April 1779 to April 3,
1783), and viceroy of New Spain (from April 29, 1783, to November 3, 1784).

Matías de Gálvez was born in a small town
in Malaga, Spain. He joined the army and distinguished himself on campaign.
He rose in rank to general, and because of his military record and the
influence of his brother, Jose de Galvez an important administrator in New
Spain, he became well known at Court. He married María Josefa de Madrid and
they had two sons, Bernardo and José. José died at 8.

In Guatemala, Governor Gálvez showed himself
an active administrator and a good organizer. He worked to reconstruct
Guatemala City after the earthquake of 1773, established a mint and built
the cathedral.

To reward Gálvez for his service in
Guatemala, the king named him viceroy of New Spain, in spite of his age and
ill health. He traveled overland to the capital, passing through Oaxaca and
Puebla. Matías de Gálvez was the last viceroy to make his formal entry
into Mexico City on horseback, which he did on April 28, 1783.

Spain and England had just made peace, and
Gálvez was able to dedicate himself to improving the capital. During his
brief administration, he worked to clean the waterways and drain the lake
surround Mexico City, built bridges and a sewage system, and paved the
streets of La Palma, Monterilla and San Francisco with cobblestones. He
divided Mexico City into four quarters, and improved the police service. He
approved the San Carlos academy of fine arts founded by his predecessor, and
continued work on it. He dedicated 15,000 pesos annual for this project.

He also ordered the reconstruction of the
palace of Chapultepec. He organized the Banco Nacional de San Carlos, a
subsidiary of a Spanish bank. He tried to import mercury from China (for use
in the silver mines), in exchange for furs. He founded a pawn shop. He also
increased government revenues to 19 million pesos annually.

Matías de Gálvez died November 3, 1784 in
Mexico City. Shortly before, on October 20, 1784, he turned government
functions over to the Audiencia. There were no sealed instructions to be
opened on the event of his death, and the Audiencia turned over the
administration to Vicente Herrera until the arrival of a new viceroy. In his
will, Gálvez had asked that his funeral services be simple. He was interred
in the church of the Apostolic College of San Fernando, with due regard for
his rank and the services he had rendered the colony. His son, Bernardo de
Galvez, Spanish governor of Louisiana, succeeded him as viceroy.

Children of MATIAS DE GALVEZ-Y-GALLARDO and
MARIA-JOSEFA DE MADRID are:

4. COUNT OF GALVEZ BERNARDO3 DE GALVEZ-Y-MADRID
(MATIAS2 DE GALVEZ-Y-GALLARDO, ANTONIO1
DE GALVEZ-Y-CARVAJAL) was born 23 Jul 1746 in Macharavialla, Malaga,
Spain, and died 30 Nov 1786 in Tabucbaya, Mexico City, D. F., Mexico. He
married MARIE-FELICE DE SAINT-MAXENT-ESTREHAN 02 Nov 1777 in Parroquia San
Luis, New Orleans, Orleans, Louisiana. She was born in New Orleans, Orleans,
Louisiana.

Note: Bernardo de
Gálvez was born on July 23, 1746, in Macharaviaya, a mountain village in
the province of Málaga, Spain, the son of Matías and Josepha Madrid y
Gallardo de Gálvez. During his lifetime his family was one of the most
distinguished in the royal service of Spain. Following family tradition,
Bernardo chose a military career. In 1762 he served as a lieutenant in a war
with Portugal, after which he was promoted to captain in the Regiment of La
Coruña. He arrived in New Spain for the first time as a part of the
entourage of his uncle, José de Gálvez Gallardo,qv who
undertook an inspection tour of the viceroyalty of New Spain. In 1769
Gálvez was commissioned to go to the northern frontier of New Spain, where
he soon became commandant of military forces in Nueva Vizcaya and Sonora. He
led several major expeditions against Apaches, whose depredations seriously
crippled the economy of the region. During campaigns along the Pecos and
Gila rivers in 1770-71, he was wounded twice but gained military experience
that proved invaluable a few years later. The name Paso de Gálvez was given
to a crossing on the Pecos River where Gálvez led his troops to victory in
a fight with the Apaches.

Gálvez returned to Spain in 1772 and spent
the next three years in France, where he enrolled in the Regiment of
Cantabria to perfect himself in military science and learned the French
language and culture. In 1775 he returned to Spain and was assigned to the
Regiment of Seville. As captain of infantry under Alejandro O'Reilly, he
participated in a failed attack on Algiers and suffered another wound. In
recompense, he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant colonel and attached
to the Military School of Ávila. In 1776 he was transferred to the faraway
province of Louisiana and promoted to colonel of the Louisiana Regiment. On
January 1, 1777, he succeeded Luis de Unzaga as governor of Louisiana.

Before Spain entered the American
Revolutionary War, Gálvez did much to aid the American patriots. He
corresponded directly with Patrick Henry, Thomas Jefferson, and Charles
Henry Lee, personally received their emissaries, Oliver Pollock and Capt.
George Gibson, and responded to their pleas by securing the port of New
Orleans so that only American, Spanish, and French ships could move up and
down the Mississippi River. Over the river, a veritable lifeline, great
amounts of arms, ammunition, military supplies, and money were delivered to
the embattled American forces under George Washington and George Rogers
Clark. Spain formally declared war against Great Britain on June 21, 1779,
and King Carlos III commissioned Gálvez to raise a force of men and conduct
a campaign against the British along the Mississippi River and the Gulf
Coast. In order to feed his troops, Gálvez sent an emissary, Francisco
García, with a letter to Texas governor Domingo Cabello y Roblesqv
requesting the delivery of Texas cattle to Spanish forces in Louisiana.
Accordingly, between 1779 and 1782, 10,000 cattle were rounded up on ranches
belonging to citizens and missions of Bexar and La Bahía.qv From
Presidio La Bahía, the assembly point, Texas rancheros and their vaqueros
trailed these herds to Nacogdoches, Natchitoches, and Opelousas for
distribution to Gálvez's forces. Providing escorts for these herds were
soldiers from Presidio San Antonio de Béxar, Presidio La Bahía, and El
Fuerte del Cíbolo, and several hundred horses were also sent along for
artillery and cavalry purposes. Fueled in part by Texas beef, Gálvez, with
1,400 men, took to the field in the fall of 1779 and defeated the British in
battles at Manchac, Baton Rouge, and Natchez. On March 14, 1780, after a
month-long siege with land and sea forces, Gálvez, with over 2,000 men,
captured the British stronghold of Fort Charlotte at Mobile. The climax of
the Gulf Coast campaign occurred the following year when Gálvez directed a
joint land-sea attack on Pensacola, the British capital of West Florida. He
commanded more than 7,000 men in the two-month siege of Fort George in
Pensacola before its capture on May 10, 1781. On May 8, 1782, Gálvez and
his Spanish forces captured the British naval base at New Providence in the
Bahamas. He was busy preparing for a grand campaign against Jamaica when
peace negotiations ended the war. After the fighting, Gálvez helped draft
the terms of treaty that ended the war, and he was cited by the American
Congress for his aid during the conflict.

After the peace accords in April 1783,
General Gálvez, accompanied by his wife, the former Marie Felice de Saint-Maxent
Estrehan of New Orleans, and two infant children, returned to Spain for a
brief rest. In October 1784 he was recalled to America to serve as
captain-general and governor of Cuba. Early in 1785 he was appointed viceroy
of New Spain to succeed his father, who had died on November 3, 1784.
Gálvez and his family moved to Mexico City, which was in the throes of
famine and disease. He became endeared to the people of Mexico City by
opening up not only the resources of the government but also his personal
fortune to help the populace through the difficult times. Two of his main
achievements as viceroy were the start of the reconstruction of the Castle
of Chapultepec, today a showplace for the Mexican nation, and the completion
of the Cathedral of Mexico, the largest cathedral in the western hemisphere.

Gálvez died of an illness on November 30,
1786. His body was buried next to his father's crypt in the wall of the
Church of San Fernando. His heart was placed in an urn and reposed in the
Cathedral of Mexico. On December 12, eight days after his funeral, his widow
gave birth to another child. In 1778 San Bernardo, a Taovayan village on the
Red River, was named in honor of Gálvez, then the governor of Louisiana.
While he was viceroy of New Spain Gálvez ordered José de Evia'sqv
survey of the Gulf Coast; the mapmaker named the biggest bay on the Texas
coast Bahía de Galvezton, a name later altered to Galveston. On November
30, 1986, forty members of the orders of the Granaderos and Damas de Gálvez
from Texas, in conjunction with the Sociedad Mexicana de Amigos de España,
placed a bronze plaque on Gálvez's crypt to honor the life and deeds of
this great Spanish hero of the American Revolution.

LORENZO AND THE TURNCOAT, set during the 1779 New Orleans hurricane and Galvez's March, won the 2006 Arizona Authors Literary Award (Children's Category). In "Turncoat,"

Lorenzo joins the Spanish army and is part of the Battle of Baton Rouge in 1779. Many thanks to Paul Newfield for sending the pictures! He was instrumental in helping us and Arte Publico, the publisher of LORENZO AND THE TURNCOAT, get the uniform correct on the cover of the book. Rick and Lila

Buenos Aires Patriots of
the American Revolutionary War
Part 2, D to Ll

The Viceroyalty of Buenos Aires was not formed until
1776, but there was early action by the Spanish against the British,
Portuguese, and Dutch merchants and sailors who were smuggling on the Rio
de la Plata. All-out war was averted, and many of the soldiers who
had served on the Rio de la Plata were later to serve under General Gálvez
at Pensacola, Cuba, and Haiti. To protect the new Viceroyalty, units
and military stations were developed at Buenos Aires, Montevideo, and
Santa Fe.

Between the 1783 end of the war and 1800, military
records were kept on all units and their key persons, what we would today
call the cadre. Records for each person in the cadre are carefully
preserved in bundles, or legajos, for specific years, in what could be
called a military census for preparedness. The record for each
soldier goes back to the
date of enlistment, then lists the dates of service in each unit, up to
the time of the census. Microfilm copies of the legajos are
available from the Family History Centers of the Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter Day Saints. All the military census dates are after the war,
and some of the younger soldiers enlisted after the war. However,
they are still
of interest because they frequently had a father or other relative of
similar name in the same unit during the war.

The object of these listings is to help descendants
identify their ancestors, and then be able to join the patriotic
organization, Sons of the American Revolution. It is also possible
that in the future, female descendants may be able to join the Daughters
of the American Revolution. So we continue the listings for Buenos
Aires patriots with
names D through Ll.

[[Editor:
I so enjoyed getting this information about who really was the first
president of the United States, mainly because it points out how much
of history is not totally accurate. In simplifying history for
easy sharing, history changes. This study below by Jack Cowan clearly
reveals to what extent.]]

THE LOST U.S. PRESIDENTS
by
Jack Cowan, President
Texas Connect to the American Revolution

Oliver Pollock was an American patriot living in
New Orleans during the American Revolution and supplied General
Washington’s Army with military goods and monetary assistance under
the protection of the Spanish Governors of Louisiana at the most
desperate of war times. The following is a reprint of a letter
addressed to him by the President of the United States after the
fighting had ended.

The United States In Congress Assembled,
To Oliver Pollock Esquir, Greeting:

We reposing special trust and confidence in your abilities
and integrity have constituted and appointed, and by these
presents do constitute and appoint you our commercial agent
during our pleasure, at the city and port of Havannah, to
manage the occasional concerns of Congress, to assist; the
American traders with your advice, and to solicit their
affairs with the Spanish Government, and to govern yourself
according to the orders you may from time to time receive
from the United States in Congress assembled. And that
you may effectually execute the office to which you are
appointed, we request the Governor, Judges and all other
officers of his Catholic Majesty to afford you all
countenance and assistance.

In Testimony whereof we have caused the
Seal of the United States of America to be hereunto affixed.
Witness his Excellency Elias Boudinot, President of the
United States in Congress assembled, the second day of June
in the Year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and
eighty three, and of our Sovereignty and Independence the
seventh.

Please read the above letter to Oliver Pollock
carefully. Notice anything unusual about it? Note who signed it
under the "Seal of the United States of America" and the
date. That’s right. PRESIDENT ELIAS BOUDINOT signed it in June
1783. Let’s see now, the U S Constitution wasn’t adopted
until September 17, 1787 and George Washington wasn’t sworn in
until April 30, 1789. Get the feeling your history teacher may have
left out something very important?

The fact is, the term "United States of
America" was established with the signing of the
"Declaration of Independence" when it stated, "We,
therefore, the Representatives of the United States of America, in
General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the
world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by
Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and
declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be
Free and Independent States, that they are Absolved from all
Allegiance to the British Crown,…".

This document was actually a ratification of an
earlier document, "The articles of Association"
established on October 20, 1774. And yes, there were presidents
elected under that document. The first being Peyton Randolph, called
the "Father of our Country", by George Washington.
President Randolph served from September 5, 1774 to October 22, 1774
and May by 20 to May 24, 1775, followed by Henry Middleton from
October 22, 1774 to October 26, 1774, followed by John Hancock from
October 27, 1775 to July 1, 1776.

That’s when the "Declaration of
Independence" was signed and more presidents were elected
being, John Hancock July 2, 1776 to October 29, 1777, Henry Laurens
November 1, 1777 to December 9, 1778, John Jay December 10, 1778 to
September 28, 1779, and Samuel Huntington September 28, 1779 to
February 28, 1781.

At that time a new document was adopted. The
ratification of the "Articles of Confederation",
the first constitution of the United States, was delayed until March
1, 1781 by Maryland due to border disputes and fears of forming a
powerful central government. On March 1, 1781, with this 13th
state's ratification, the Continental Congress ceased to exist and
"The United States in Congress Assembled" was placed at
the head of each page of the Official Journal of Congress. The New
United States in Congress Assembled Journal reported on March 2,
1781:

"The ratification of the
Articles of Confederation being yesterday completed by the
accession of the State of Maryland: The United States met
in Congress, when the following members appeared: His
Excellency Samuel Huntington, delegate for Connecticut,
President..."

Now if you read history or surf the web, you will
find many sites that dispute George Washing as being the first
president and give John Hanson that honor. While this is closer to
the truth, it is still two presidents away. Actually Samuel
Huntington was the first, still being president under the "Articles
of Association", and served from March 1, 1781 to July
6, 1781. Thomas McKean was elected 2nd President of the United
States in Congress Assembled from July 10, 1781 to November 5, 1781,
followed by John Hanson, the 3rd President of the United States from
November 5, 1781 to November 4, 1782, followed by Elias Boudinot.
You remember him from the letter to Pollock, above. He served from
November 4, 1782 to November 3, 1783, followed by:

Thomas Mifflin, 5th President of the United States
in Congress Assembled, November 3, 1783 to June 3, 1784

Richard Henry Lee, 6th President of the United
States in Congress Assembled,

November 30, 1784 to November 23, 1785

John Hancock, 7th President of the United States
in Congress Assembled, November 23, 1785 to June 6, 1786

Nathaniel Gorham, 8th President of the United
States in Congress Assembled, June 1786 to November 13, 1786

Arthur St. Clair, 9th President of the United
States in Congress Assembled, February 2, 1787 to October 29, 1787

Cyrus Griffin, 10th President of the United States
in Congress Assembled, January 22, 1788 to March 4, 1789

And finally, President George Washington, the 11th
President of the United States of America.

But what about the "U S Constitution"?
Wasn’t Washington the first president after it was adopted?
That’s not exactly true. The "U S Constitution" was, "Done
in convention by the unanimous consent of the states present the
seventeenth day of September in the year of our Lord one thousand
seven hundred and eighty seven…". It was to take
effect on March 4, 1789 but George Washington wasn’t sworn in
until April 30, 1789. It appears there were two presidents before
him after the Constitution was adopted and one after it went into
effect.

"After New Hampshire ratified the Constitution on 21 June
1788, being the ninth requisite state to do so, the
Confederation Congress passed the Election Ordinance on 13
September, which provided for the selection of presidential
Electors in the states on 7 January 1789 and set 4 February as
the date they would cast their ballots in their states.

The Constitution left it up to each state to
choose the manner in which their Electors were chosen (Article
II, section 1). North Carolina and Rhode Island had not yet
ratified the Constitution and had no Electors in the election of
1789. The New York legislature was unable to pass an election
act in time to choose its allotted 8 Electors, failed to appoint
any by 7 January, and cast no electoral votes on 4 February. A
total of 69 Electors voted in the first Presidential Election (2
Electors in Maryland and 1 in Virginia failed to cast ballots).
Each elector had two votes, at least one of which had to be cast
for a person outside their state. The votes were to be forwarded
to Congress, where they would be counted in the presence of the
Senators and Representatives. The person with the most votes
would be President; the one finishing second in the balloting
would be Vice President. Congress convened in New York on 4
March 1789; quorums were achieved in the House and Senate on 1
and 6 April 1789, respectively. Congress confirmed the results
of the first presidential election when it officially counted
the ballots on 6 April 1789. Vice President John Adams assumed
his duties as president of the Senate on 21 April and George
Washington was inaugurated as President of the United States on
30 April 1789."

So why were you taught that Washington was the
First President? The answer is not a simple one, After the war had
ended and its unifying effect began to wane the states began to
compete with each other and adopted trade tariffs to supplement tax
revenue. Washington and Madison called a conference to amend the
"Articles of Confederation" so as to give the federal
government the power over this new commerce and taxation. The
outcome of this was a transformation of the "Articles of
Confederation" into the "United States
Constitution". In the process, the congress tried to
placate objections to the new constitution by putting in
restrictions of power.

Did this establish a new United States? Of course
not, but it did usher in a new extension to its government. There
was considerable opposition to the new constitution and its adoption
was prompted by a strong fear that if it were not accepted, the
union would dissolve. It is ironic, however, that a flaw in the new
constitution would later cause that very event and a civil war
claiming 500,000 American lives. George Mason, one of the objectors
to the language of the new constitution predicted the pitfall that
would result when he wrote:

"By requiring only a Majority to make all
commercial and navigation Laws, the five Southern States (whose
Produce and Circumstances are totally different from that of the
eight Northern and Eastern States) will be ruined; for such a
rigid and premature Regulations may be made, as will enable the
Merchants of the Northern and Eastern States not only to demand
an exorbitant Freight, but to monopolize the Purchase of the
Commodities at their own Price, for many years: to the great
Injury of the Landed Interest, and Impoverishment of the People:
and the Danger is greater, as the Gain on one Side will be in
Proportion to the Loss of the other. Whereas requiring two
thirds of the members present in both Houses wou’d have
produced mutual moderation, promoted the general Interest, and
removed an insuperable Objection to the Adoption of the
Government."

As we now know, the Northern and Eastern States
did abuse their majority control and lay upon the Southern States
80% of the national tax without recourse except cession. When the
North destroyed the South and a new United States was
re-constructed, did we then have a new First President? Of course
not, any more than the re-constructed constitution gave us a new
First President in George Washington.

Actually, the real sin is that we have deleted
these early presidents and great leaders from our history as well as
their accomplishments. They dealt with civil and military revolts,
signed treaties with Britain and other countries, and handled the
Indian problems. It was these "lost presidents" that
secured the Northwest Territories and sold land to help pay the
monumental war debt. Some fought valiantly during the war, were
wounded and one was even captured trying to secure war funds from
Holland after serving as president. Laurens, the only U S President
to be a POW, was held in the Tower of London until after Yorktown
when he was exchanged for none other than General Cornwallis. These
leaders managed to construct a political system so revolutionary
that the nation, now the most powerful the world has ever borne,
still stands 232 years later (October 20,2006).

Major Sources: The Origins of the American Constitution –
A Documented History By Michael Kammen
The Papers of George Washington University
of Virginia
President Who? Forgotten Founders By Stanley
L. Klos

There is a movement to recognize
these Past Presidents.

To help us honor these Forgotten Presidents please
take a moment and review the bi-partisan Presidential Request, led
by Rep. Congressman Rob Simmons (R), US Senator Christopher Dodd
(D), and supported by institutions like the James Monroe Memorial
Foundation, Norwich Historical Society, and James Madison's
Montpelier, to have the U.S. Military lay a wreath of thanks, each
year, at the gravesites on the anniversary of their birth. Please
take the time to duplicate the attached request, sign it and
circulate it among your friends and family to aid us in this mission.

US Presidential Request

Whereas a Presidential Executive Order requires
that a wreath-laying ceremony is conducted for all US President
gravesites on the anniversary of their birthday.

Whereas the Presidential Executive Order does not
include the Presidents of the United States in Congress Assembled
under the Articles of Confederation whose office holders were:

Samuel Huntington, 1st President of the United
States in Congress Assembled, March 1, 1781 to July 6, 1781

Thomas McKean, 2nd President of the United States
in Congress Assembled July 10, 1781 to November 5, 1781

John Hanson, 3rd President of the United States in
Congress Assembled, November 5, 1781 to November 4, 1782

Elias Boudinot, 4th President of the United States
in Congress Assembled, November 4, 1782 to November 3, 1783

Thomas Mifflin, 5th President of the United States
in Congress Assembled, November 3, 1783 to June 3, 1784

Richard Henry Lee, 6th President of the United
States in Congress Assembled,

November 30, 1784 to November 23, 1785

John Hancock, 7th President of the United States
in Congress Assembled, November 23, 1785 to June 6, 1786

Nathaniel Gorham, 8th President of the United
States in Congress Assembled, June 1786 - November 13, 1786

Arthur St. Clair, 9th President of the United
States in Congress Assembled, February 2, 1787 to October 29, 1787

Cyrus Griffin, 10th President of the United States
in Congress Assembled, January 22, 1788 to March 4, 1789

Whereas the Presidential Executive Order does not
include the Presidents of Congress under the Declaration of
Independence’s Continental Congress whose office holders were:

John Hancock, July 2, 1776 to October 29, 1777;

Henry Laurens, November 1, 1777 to December 9,
1778

John Jay, December 10, 1778 to September 28, 1779

Samuel Huntington, September 28, 1779 to February
28, 1781

Whereas the Presidential Executive Order does not
include the Presidents of Congress under the United Colonies of
America’s Continental Congress whose office holders were:

Peyton Randolph, September 5, 1774 to October 22,
1774 and May 20 to May 24, 1775

Henry Middleton, October 22, 1774 to October 26,
1774

John Hancock, October 27, 1775 to July 1, 1776

Whereas these Presidents presided over the United
Colonies/States of America’s unicameral government executing
congressional laws, treaties, and military orders; called for
Congressional assembly and adjournment; signed military commissions
including George Washington’s commander-in-chief appointment;
received foreign dignitaries; received, read, answered, and at their
own discretion held or disseminated the official mail addressed to
them as the President of the United States and President of
Congress.

Whereas These Presidents on numerous occasions
used their office to exercise much influence on United States
military, public affairs and legislation.

Whereas The United States in Congress Assembled
provided for the President’s expenses, servants, clerks, housing,
and transportation recognizing that they were the only elected
official representing all the states.

Therefore, the undersign respectfully request
that the President of the United States, George W. Bush, amend the
Presidential wreath-laying Order to honor the following Presidents
of Congress and Presidents of the United States in Congress
Assembled:

President Peyton Randolph of Virginia, President
Henry Middleton of South Carolina, President John Hancock of
Massachusetts, President Henry Laurens of South Carolina, President
John Jay of New York, President Samuel Huntington of Connecticut,
President Thomas McKean of Pennsylvania, President John Hanson of
Maryland, President Elias Boudinot of New Jersey, President Thomas
Mifflin of Pennsylvania, President Richard Henry Lee of Virginia,
President Nathaniel Gorham of Massachusetts, President Arthur St.
Clair of Pennsylvania, and President Cyrus Griffin of Virginia.

As the U.S. Representative for The Bernardo de Galvez Forum in Spain,
I was contacted concerning a movement to duplicate what a French group accomplished in 2002 . .

Our U.S. the Congress passed a resolution so "That Marie Joseph Paul Yves Roche Gilbert du Motier, the Marquis de Lafayette,
was proclaimed posthumously to be an honorary citizen of the United States of America."

The Bernardo de Galvez Forum in Spain has compared the historical
records of accomplishments by Lafayette, and believes that Galvez far
out-distanced Lafayette in service rendered to the United
States.

Hopefully by the January issue, we will have composed a comparison
between the action of both General Lafayette and General Galvez, fully
documented and substantiated to proceed with the goal of Honorary U.S.
citizenship for Bernardo de Galvez.

We are seeking both historians with a special interest on the American
Revolutionary time period, individuals with government protocol
experience, and of course, everyone's kind encouragement.
Changing public perception of the Hispanic/Latino contributions to the
U.S. is a huge project which needs all of us to clarify and respect
what our grandparents and their grandparents did.

The study by Jack Cowan concerning U.S. Presidents
who served briefly before George Washington points out that many
aspects of U.S. have been left out, minimized or deleted. This
project of obtaining an Honorary U.S. Citizenship for Bernardo de
Galvez will be a small step in acknowledging Hispanic historical
contributions, even before there was a United States of America.

December 1 & 2: Navidad in Early
CaliforniaDecember 10: Christmas Open House
Theatre
For Social Justice Workshop

Navidad in Early California
on December 1 & 2
Tickets for Navidad in Early California, this year's Christmas
Candlelight Tours on December 1 and 2, are on sale now.... This unique
experience will take you back to the year 1850, shortly after
California became a state in the Union, and when the Temples owned
Rancho Los Cerritos.

Navidad in Early California focuses on a December evening in
1850. Young men and women are practicing the Pastorela in the home of
Don Juan Temple, and will be performing the full play in many homes
around the Los Angeles plaza on Christmas Eve. The Temples are
hosting guests for the holidays, including the Stearns and Larkins
families, and have set out colorful nacimientos and some greenery
throughout the house. As modern visitors tour the site by
candlelight, they will learn about Mexican and early American holiday
festivities, all the while sampling daily life, economic viewpoints
and the changing landscape of the Los Angeles region. The tour
concludes with a scene in Spanish from La Pastorela.

Don't miss a chance to experience this magical event! Ticket
prices are $10 each, $8 for members (payable to FRLC), and include
light refreshments and music. Tours begin every few minutes
starting at 6:30 p.m. until 8:30 p.m.; space is limited. For
reservations, pick up a flyer at the Rancho or your local library, or
call the Rancho at 562/570-1755.

Christmas Open House on
December 10The Rancho also offers a free Christmas Open
House on December 10 from 1-4 p.m. Geared especially for
families with children, activities include the opportunity to make
19th century ornaments, swing at a piñata, tour the decorated adobe
and visit with Santa Claus. There's also live holiday
entertainment to add to the mood, cookies and cider, and a chance to
find unique gift items in the Museum Shop. Join us and explore
typical celebrations, traditions and activities of early California!

I'm co-facilitating a Theatre For Social Justice Workshop in
partnership with the OC Dream Team, the OC Human Relations, Breath of Fire
Theater Company, and Fringe Benefits.

We are hoping to gain participants (High School Students and Teachers)
to work together by using their stories, discussions, and improvisations
to create a play promoting the Dream Act designed for high school and
college students who wish to advocate for progressive immigration rights.

I've included an attachment a flyer of the 5 day workshop and the
overview of the breakdown of our workshop

PLEASE HELP GET THE WORD OUT, so that we can put together a GREAT TEAM
for the workshop!!

WE CURRENTLY NEED at least:

8 high school students (who have faced discrimination based on
immigration status)
8 college students (who have faced discrimination based on immigration
status)

Valor and Discord: Mexican Americans and the Vietnam War by Edward Morin
Piloto: Migrant Worker to Jet Pilot by Lt. Col. Henry Cervantes, USAF (Ret.)
Undaunted Courage: Mexican American Patriots of World War II
by Latino Advocates for Education, Inc.
Strength and Honor: Mexican Americans in the Vietnam War
by Latino Advocates for Education, Inc.

Documentary Film, East LA Marine: The True Story of Guy Gabaldon
by Steve Rubin

On November 6th Margaret Velez organized a special event honoring Guy Gabaldon in El Paso, Texas.
It was held at the El Paso County Commissioner's Court meeting
during which time a resolution was prepared and read recognizing Guy Gabaldon as a
True American Hero. The text is below.

One of the El Paso County Commissioner, Daniel R.
Haggerty, 4th Precinct paid to frame
4 lithographs of Pied Piper of Saipan, Guy
Gabaldon for display in different location of El
Paso. One lithograph already hangs in the County Commissioner
Building. Although no data thus far, places Guy in El Paso, the
Commissioners decided Guy's story was so amazing that it should be shared,
especially for benefit of the youth.

However, if anyone knows of a historical or family connection that Guy
might have to El Paso, Margarita Velez asks to be contacted . . mbvelez@elp.rr.com

RESOLUTION

The State of
Texas
Know All Men By
These Presents:
County of El Paso

WHEREAS,
Guy Gabaldon
was born to a large
Hispanic family
in Los Angeles,
California
and as a young boy, he moved in with a Japanese family learning "
street
smarts "
and the Japanese
language
and culture
of his adopted family; and,

WHEREAS,

while
serving
with
the 2nd Marine division, in the battle
for the island
of Saipan,
his multi-lingual
talent was put to a
great test.
While on his first
combat patrol he returned
with
two
Japanese
prisoners, the second
night he returned
with 50; and,

W

HEREAS,
on July 8, 1944, while on a "lone wolf
patrol",
the 18 year
old Gabaldonsingle
handedly
corralled,
more than
800 Japanese prisoners
and is
credited with
bringing in a total'
of 1,500 Japanese soldiers
and civilians with the simple promise
of
humane
treatment
by the American forces; and.

WHEREAS,

because
this
remarkable
feat has never been duplicated, Guy Gabaldon
was recommended for a Medal of Honor, which was downgraded to a
Silver Star and later upgraded
to /he
Navy Cross: and,

WHEREAS, "Hell So
Eternity",
is
a movie of his exploits, released in 1960 and earned him the
nickname."The
Pied Piper of Saipan"
and the oil painting
by Henry Godines
depicts the accomplishments
of this extraordinary Marine.

NOW,

THEREFORE,
BE IT
RESOLVED by the County
Judge and Commissioners'Court
that the late Guy Gabaldon be recognized
as:

"A True
American Hero"

MEXIKA "Sounds of Ancient Mexico" which is: Martin Espino
and Chris Garcia will be performing as part of the following
event: "LA VIRGEN DE
GUADALUPE - DIOS INANTZIN" on Dec 7 & 8, 2006 @ 7:30pm
FREE - GRATIS - FREE....(every year it gets more packed, last year there
something 4000 people there!!!) Get there at like, 5-530pm...parking costs
$5 I believe...not sure!

Cathedral of Our Lady of Los Angeles, 555
W. Temple Street downtown

Our part in this theatrical work is when
the Virgen appears you'll hear playing the "Heavenly Cosmic
sounds" all on ancient Mexican instruments; ....but read on....this
is what my friends at the Latino Theatre Company say: This beautiful play,
performed in Spanish with music and dance, re-tells the story of
the apparition of the Virgin Mary to the Indian peasant Juan Diego in the
hills of Tepeyac. Because of its universal message of faith, love and
perseverance, the pageant appeals to many people, regardless of race,
language or religion. Renowned Mezzo Sorprano Suzanna Guzman plays the
title role of Our Lady of Guadalupe and LTC Member Sal Lopez plays Juan
Diego. LTC members, professional actors and musicians, Aztec dancers and a
large community ensemble of children, youth, adults and seniors complete
the cast.

La Virgen de Guadalupe, Dios Inantzin

is presented free to the public. Many of the working families that attend
experience a live theatrical performance for the first time. 2006 marks
the Latino Theater Company and the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels
have joined together to make this event a holiday tradition and a gift to
the people of Los Angeles.

Heritage Discovery Center Peña Andaluza, Promoting
our Culture in California
San Jose Alcaldes Unveiling
Dec 2: Nara 101: Family History Dat at the National Archives in San Bruno
Angel Island Immigration Station Receives Partners in Preservation Grant
The Invisible Mexicans of Deer Canyon
Sparking an interest in the Past, Ventura County
A Guide to the Juan Bautista de Anza National Historic Trail
Pre1850 Genealogical Research for Alta California
Trip Planned to Basque Country of Spain
Palos Verdes Historic house closer to demolition
The Portuguese of Yuba County

Robin Collins, President and Founder of the Heritage Discovery Center

Heritage
Discovery CenterReport by Barry Starr, DirectorCalifornia’s Heritage Discovery Center, the
"Living History Museum" of California’s Colonial Spanish
History and home of the largest herd of Colonial Spanish horses from the
Wilbur-Cruce lineage, is pleased to announce the appointment of Stephen
Becker, as Senior Advisor and Consultant.

Mr. Becker will assist the HDC’s Executive Director Barry Starr and
President and Founder Ms. Robin Collins in efforts to secure a permanent
home for the Heritage Discovery Center. Mr. Becker recently retired after
33 years in heritage and cultural organizations, most recently as the
Executive Director of the California Historical Society. Mr. Becker is
also past president of the California Association of Museums, and worked
with Spanish Colonial and Native American museum projects in Santa Fe, New
Mexico. Over two decades ago, he led efforts to establish the
Jensen-Alvarado Living Historic Ranch in Riverside County, and has long
interests and involvement with development of living agricultural museums.

The Heritage Discovery Center is pleased to announce the collaboration
of
Mrs. Mimi Lozano-Holtzman as their newest Advisor/Consultant.
Mrs. Lozano’s initial role and duties will be focused in several
critical areas, including working with media and public relations,
particularly articles to be published in SOMOS PRIMOS. She will serve as
co-chair of the Board Development Committee, which will assure the
creation of a diverse and active board of directors for the project who
share the mission, goals and vision of the HDC’s plan to create
California’s most important living historic park and museum centered on
Spanish Colonial, Mission period and Native American history, highlighting
the HDC’s magnificent collection of rare Spanish horses, living
ambassadors to California’s Spanish past.

A new home in Santa Barbara County?

In recent months, the HDC leadership has been pursuing
an opportunity to locate the Heritage Discovery Center in Santa Barbara
County next to La Purisima Mission State Historic Park. Although very much
in preliminary discussion stages, the HDC is enthusiastically pursuing
acquisition of approximately 200 acres along Cebada Canyon Road. Owners
and developers of a unique property in this location adjoining La Purisima
State Historic Park have approached both the HDC and the California
Department of Parks with initial discussions about working together to
establish a permanent home for the HDC and its unique and special herd of
Wilbur-Cruce Spanish Mission horses. Most recently, the HDC’s Executive
Director and Founder met with leaders in Sacramento with California State
Parks, and are continuing to closely monitor the land acquisition
possibilities near Lompoc.

Ms. Robin Collins, President and Founder of the Heritage
Discovery Center, had long been associated with horsemanship, breeding and
preservation of rare breeds before accepting and assuming the
responsibility of assuring the continuation of the Wilbur-Cruce Spanish
Mission horses..

This spring five new foals were born and are now part of this growing herd of Colonial Spanish
Mission/Rancher horses.

YOU CAN HELP! It costs
considerable to feed and
care for each horse in our herd of rare Spanish horses. Please contribute
what you can to help us keep this living heritage alive and healthy!

The Heritage Discovery Center is a 501(c )3 non-profit,
educational organization. Please print and fill out the following form and
send in it with your tax deductible year-end gift toady!

Gifts of any size are welcomed. Children are encouraged
to adopt a foal, follow its growth and activities. A Family
Christmas Donation will live on in the lineage of these unique
horses. By helping the Heritage Discovery Center care for the living heritage of the Wilbur-Cruce Colonial Spanish
mission horse, the early presence of our Hispanic ancestors will
eventually receive the respect, deserved.

Please deposit my special contribution to
the Heritage Discovery Center’s fund for the care, feeding, and veterinary care for the Wilbur-Cruce
herd.

FELIZ NAVIDAD: “La Pandereta Flamenca”
SUNDAY DECEMBER 17
1:00 to 4:30:pm.
Christmas party members and friends Potluck,( bring a main dish). La Peña will provide:
typical Spanish Christmas sweets, coffee, sodas and lot of fun. We will show a DVD of flamenco Christmas in
Andalucía, Spain. OPEN TO THE PUBLIC, BRING A DISH TO SHARE

Sent by Maria Angeles O'Donnell de Olson, Hon. Consul of Spain in San Diego

ALCALDES (MAYORS) CEREMONIAL UNVEILING

Event:

Councilmember Chuck Reed, Alida Bray
of History San Jose, and Jose Pantoja hosted a ceremonial unveiling of
the Alcaldes photos that have recently been displayed at City Hall. The
event was held November 28, 1-2 pm in the San Jose City Hall. It was
organized by Councilmember Chuck Reed, Alida Bray of History San Jose, and Jose Pantoja.

Background: For many years the City of San Jose has displayed the
photos and names of men and women who have served as mayors and council
members. Previously, these photos were prominently displayed at the rear
of the Council Chambers. In 2002, we added the names and photos of the
Alcaldes that served San Jose before the City was chartered, showing our
respect for the City's Spanish and Mexican heritage. These plaques and
photos were not carried over to the new City hall. They are an important
part of San Jose 's history.

Recently, they have been displayed outside of Council Chambers in the
lobby of the 2nd floor. It is important for our community to
take notice of these photos and engage in seeing Spanish and Mexican names
among the leaders of San Jose . This is important in order to preserve our
true history.

UPCOMING EVENTS
Saturday, December 2, 10:00 AM-1:00 PM
NARA 101: FAMILY HISTORY DAY AT THE NATIONAL ARCHIVES in San Bruno
1000 Commodore Drive, San Bruno, CA 94066-2350

AIISF's Descendants Club in association with the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) Pacific Region presents a special Saturday workshop to introduce you to the resources held by NARA's Pacific Region and how to access the files so you can uncover your family's journey to America.

You'll learn the basics; the kind of information that can be found from a ship's passenger lists, Naturalization records, and other little used sources along with research tips. NARA archivists are willing to do preliminary research if participants have leads such as the name of the immigrant, name of ship and/or year of travel so files may be pulled for you to peruse on December 2. Upon
RSVPing, please let AIISF know the family member's name and information so that we can start the process of finding your relatives files. All record requests must be received by November 27 at the latest.

NARA is typically closed on Saturdays and this workshop is an exclusive opportunity to explore the archives on a weekend. Families are welcome, best suited for children 10 and above. Space is limited to 20 people. Please RSVP by calling (415) 561-2160 by November 27 to reserve a space at this special workshop.

Bay Area, Immigration Forum: What's Happened in the Past, who we are now.
Wednesday, December 13, 5:30-7:30 pm
San Francisco Main Public Library, Koret Auditorium, 100 Larkin at
Civic Center, San Francisco, CA
RSVP to (415) 553-2310 and to reserve a space for childcare.

Who are all these people? You might often wonder this with many new communities growing so quickly. But the Bay Area has always had large immigrant populations ? Chinese, Irish, Japanese, and Russian to name a few. Join us as we screen new KQED public media, enjoy short cultural performances and reception, and have a facilitated community conversation on how the history of immigration affects who we are today and what this means for the richly ethnically diverse receiving community. Panelists include Professor Bill Ong Hing and Nu Nu Kidane.

Partners ?
San Francisco Main Public Library, Angel Island Immigration Station Foundation, KQED Education Network, Bay Area Immigrant Rights Coalition, Black Alliance for Just Immigration, Chinese Historical Society of America, Irish Immigration and Pastoral Center, and the National Japanese American Historical Society.

This program is a part of KQED's Immigration in Focus, a year-long collection of
thought- provoking programs, special reports and events about the complex issues surrounding immigration. Also watch the broadcast premiere of Immigrant Voices ? American Stories, an original 30-minute documentary examining the growing political awareness and power of eight immigrants living in the San Francisco Bay Area, on Friday, November 24 at 7:30 p.m. on KQED. The film takes a look at how and why they decided to get involved in their
communities, as well as the obstacles they faced in becoming civically and politically active. Encore presentations will be aired and the film will be available for viewing at
www.kqed.org/immigrationinfocus

KQED's Immigration in Focus is supported by a generous grant from the Evelyn and Walter Haas, Jr. Fund (www.haasjr.org). Participation of the Angel Island Immigration Station Foundation is made possible by grants from the Evelyn &Walter Haas, Jr. Fund and the Walter &Elise Haas Fund.
Bay Area information sent by wongyen@comcast.net

IMMIGRATION STATION RECEIVES PARTNERS IN PRESERVATION GRANT

Angel Island Immigration Station will receive $84,000 from the American Express Foundation and the National Trust for Historic Preservation's Partners in Preservation program for a new roof for the World War II mess hall which functions as a visitor's center and meeting space for groups. Angel Island Immigration Station was one of 13 San Francisco Bay Area Historic Sites selected to receive grantS.

"It is an honor for Angel Island Immigration Station to be recognized as one of the Bay Area `hidden gems' and to receive an award of $84,000," stated Kathy Owyang Turner, President of the Board of Directors, Angel Island Immigration Station Foundation. "We commend American Express and the National Trust for Historic Preservation for taking the initiative to draw public attention on these historic sites. Angel Island is the Pacific Gateway for more than one million immigrants, and now with this financial support, we will continue to be able to preserve a site that is significant for those immigrants and generations of their descendants."

Community voters from September through October gave Angel Island Immigration Station a second place finish with 16% of the total votes. "Thank you to all of our supporters who were an integral part of enabling us to receive this grant," commented Daphne Kwok,
Executive Director, Angel Island Immigration Station Foundation.

The American Express Partners in Preservation Program is designed to help preserve historic places that reflect the Bay Area's rich and diverse cultural heritage while building community pride, spurring economic development and driving tourism. One million dollars was distributed to Bay Area projects. For more information about the program and the projects' restoration updates, go to http://www.partnersinpreservation.com

“The Invisible Mexicans of Deer Canyon” New Film Exposes Mexican Migrants Living in Third World Conditions Amongst Wealthy San Diego, CA Neighborhoods.
Sent by Collin Skousen

Award winning filmmaker, John Carlos Frey’s new documentary “The Invisible Mexicans of Deer Canyon” exposes the subhuman conditions thousands of undocumented immigrants endure as they work to maintain the multi-million dollar homes and businesses of San Diego, CA. Over two thousand laborers, mostly from central and southern Mexico, live without running water, electricity or sanitation in the clandestine canyons of northern San Diego County. Cost of living in the area is exorbitant so the migrants have built shacks made of plastic tarps, cardboard and scrap lumber. They live outdoors hidden in hillsides and dense vegetation. They provide a cheap source of labor for the rapidly growing local neighborhoods.

Frey spent over a year living with and getting to know the migrants featured in the film. He followed them to work at construction sites, local farms and five star resorts. He accompanied them to Sunday services at a clandestine outdoor chapel built by the migrants deep in the heart of the canyon. He tracked their desperate circumstances as local citizens and law enforcement continued to demolish the migrant shacks and push them further from local neighborhoods. “The Invisible Mexicans of Deer Canyon” is a never before seen expose of migrant life and the untold side of the immigration debate.

The film is now available on DVD with half of all proceeds to benefit charitable organizations.

“The Invisible Mexicans of Deer Canyon” will be screened for the National Center for Farmworker Health (NCFH) conference as well as The Joan B. Kroc Institute for Peace and Justice in November 2006 as well as several college campuses across the country.

[[Editor: Information extracted from
an event that was held Nov. 3 at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, 604 Ojai Road.
Unfortunately I received it to late to include in the November
issue. I have known Cathy for over 20 years. She has a special
interest and skill with/for Hispanic research. If you live in the Santa
Paula area and need help, I strongly encourage you to contact Cathy.]]

When Cathy Robbins first became a professional genealogy researcher about 30 years ago, “I didn’t know much about my family, but now I have about 24,000 names in my database,” she noted.

How easy it is to enter the fascinating world of genealogy was detailed at the community-invited “Find Your Ancestors!” premier event to be held Friday, Nov. 3 at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, 604 Ojai Road.
The evening event offered a free list of genealogy Websites, access to computers with hands-on Internet search locations and much more.

“Our goal in having this event is to help people find their ancestors and have joy in their discoveries,” said Robbins, a Santa Paula resident who first entered the field before computers made such searches much more successful.
November is National Family Week and the church is planning to make the “Find Your Ancestors!” fair an annual event.

Robbins noted that a student in one of her genealogy classes was a private investigator: “He said ‘I can find the living but can find the dead!’ ” by accessing records of those who have passed.

Robbins has researched local families using the vast archives of the Ventura County Museum of History & Art working with museum historian Charles Johnson, local research that becomes international as generations are traced back through the centuries.

Old records, insurance maps, census data, all can be incorporated into research as well as references in old journals and photographs.

When she delved into her own ancestors, Robbins found that she had four family members who arrived in America on the Mayflower.

“Of course, I also have Native American ancestors that go back farther…” information that sometimes comes as a surprise to present generations who are unaware that family members were the real first Americans.

Robbins said that another fascinating aspect of genealogy is that “A lot of family folklore” including accomplishments of ancestors can be proved, not possible without the knowledge of family past.

“As you get into history you gain a great respect for these people and what they did,” said Robbins, who treasures a cameo passed down through many generations. “My great-grandmother got it from her great-grandmother” and having the history of her relatives, “the pictures of these people,” is invaluable to mind and spirit.

Finding that she had a great-great uncle who was a genealogist with the Library of Congress came as a surprise to Robbins, but “As you search back you find out about yourself,” and the many interests, hobbies, personality traits and physical resemblance’s passed from generation to generation.

Robbins, who works one day a week at the Family History Center, teaches free classes in Ventura twice a year.

“I haven’t found anybody who doesn’t get excited when they trace their history…they say its so much fun to find out who their ancestors were. You can begin to understand yourself better and it’s fun when you find out and really connect to,” your ancestors.

“My great love is doing research in genealogy and showing others” how easy it has become.
gennut222@adelphia.net

A Guide to the Juan Bautista de Anza National Historic
Trail by
Greg Bernal-Mendoza Smestad, Ph.D.

Antepasados,
Volume X!, 2005
Los Californianos

Preface

As I traveled up and down California and Arizona on the
path taken by Juan BautistadeAnza in 177'5-177'6,1
took note of its many sights and sounds. Some of these sounds, some
natural and some man-made, were those that Anza and the members of his
expeditions could have heard. This delighted me, as I am a descendant of
several of the expedition's members (including Josef ApolinarioBemalySoto,Luis Maria Peralta,
and Juan SalvioPacheco).
I attended performances along the trail by groups such as the New World
Baroque Orchestra and the Mission Santa Barbara choir group. I sat with my
Califomio cousin, Ryusona,
and listened to her play the music of our ancestors on her violin. The
music seemed to have the ability take people back to a time when
California was but a lonely outpost on the northern-most frontier of what
was then called New Spain. Slowly, an idea took shape. What if we could
re-capture some of the sounds that were heard in those days gone by? We
could give this to people with enough information so that they could go to
the places where the sounds were heard. This was the beginning of the idea
for the Anza Trail Guide CD.

So you might ask, "Why is this important?",
or even, "Why is the Juan Bautista de Anza trail important?" My
answer to this question is this: It allows one to realize that California
was settled long before the Gold Rush (1849), and even before the United
States was an independent country. First of all, there were the American
Indians who settled the area starting some ten thousand years ago. Long
after that, there was the Spanish Empire that sought to extend her settled
possessions beyond her northern-most frontier. This was the reason for the
expeditions of Juan Bautista de Anza, who was serving his king, CarlosHI of Spain. Many races were represented by
the people Anza brought to California in 1775-1776: Spanish bom in Spain,
Spanish bom in the New World, Indian, Indian-Hispanic mixtures and
African-Hispanic mixtures. These people obviously believed that the new
land in California would bring them new and better opportunities. This, in
my opinion, is an example of the "American Dream"
expressed even before California was a possession of the United States. My
motivation in bringing people to understand the trail, its story and the
story of the people of the Anza expeditions is therefore to inspire
immigrants, Hispanic and non-Hispanic alike. I would like to convey to
them that the issues that they face are not so unlike those of previous
generations.

Another motivation stems from the fact that as
California and Arizona develop, the Anza trail could serve as a means to
preserve natural areas for the enjoyment and enlightenment of future
generations. This centers on the public learning to appreciate the areas
on and around the trail, and to become active in their preservation and
restoration. The diaries of Anza and his chaplain, Franciscan Father Pedro
Font, paint a vivid picture of the natural and political environment of
their time. For the former, this can serve as a guide for restoration of
areas along the trail, and from the latter, one can gain insights as to
how history often repeats itself.

I have worked to combine text, images, and sounds that
offer users a sense of what members of Anza's
expeditions experienced. My research has led to the recording of
historically accurate musical arrangements from both the Spanish and the
American Indian groups along the trail. I've sought to record these in
authentic settings, and to include many of the sounds the expedition may
have heard. This guide is not intended as the ultimate guidebook for the
Juan Bautista de Anza National Historic Trail. It is merely a start, a
beginning. "A journey begins with a
single step."GregSmestad,
Ph.D.

About the AuthorAuthor with daughter MayaGregBemal-MendozaSmestad
is an eighth generation descendant of several members of the 1775-1776
Anza expedition. Like many descendants of the expedition (Calif omios),
he also has several American Indian ancestors. Like many Americans, his
ancestry also reflects a mixture of immigrants from many lands. A chemist
and materials scientist by training, his vocation involves research in
solar energy. He has taught both science and policy classes related to
these fields, has written a book on the "Optoelectronics of Solar
Cells," and has created educational products to teach basic
science.
While these topics are far from those of Early California History, he
has never forgotten what his maternal grandmother said about the
importance of the Anza expeditions and the role they played in his
ancestors' lives. Through Challenge Cost Share Program funds from the U.S.
Department of the Interior National Park Service, he developed the Anza
Trail Guide and CD to inspire the stewardship of this land and the
preservation of our cultural heritage.

Pre1850 Genealogical Research for Alta California

Ancestors

by Pamela
Meeds Williams

I am an 8th generation native
Californian. Like Manual Valencia' great great grandparents, my great
great great great great great grandparents came to California with the
1776 de Anza Expedition. Jose Manuel Gonzales and his wife, Maria Michaela
Ruiz and five children, Maria Anna, Juan, Joseph. Ramon Maria Gregoria,
and Jose Francisco, were recruited April 17, 1775. the same day as Jose
Manuel Valencia.

I am a member of Los Califomianos.
Members can trace their family in California to pre 1850 Alta California.
Through Los Califomianos I learned about sources of information for our
early ancestors.

The primary source of genealogy
information for pre-statehood California are the historic Mission
registers. Within the baptism, marriage, and burial records of each of the
California Missions is an extraordinary wealth of unique information on
the Indians, soldiers, and settlers of Alta California from 1769 to 1850.
The original registers are scattered across California and too old and too
brittle to handle. Microfilm copies of the registers exist in archives,
but are of poor quality and often hard to locate. Understanding the
registers-written as they are in 18th Century Spanish script—demands
rare skills and enormous effort.

The creation of data bases from the Mission Records has
been extremely time-consuming and challenging. There are several primary
databases.
Gene 2

Before the Missions restricted access to
the original records, Thomas Workman Temple II, was one of the
first professional genealogists to have access to the Mission records
(baptism, marriage, death, and some confirmations). He created 52 volumes
of abstracts of the records. He did not do all of the Missions, or all of
the entries, only those that interested him. He copied by hand the records
in the original Spanish. He then created a dictionary for translations.
These abstracts were donated to Los Californianos in 1989. They have since
created an index, and made a copy on CD of the abstracts.

Keith Ponsford
also had access to the original records. He made 3x5 cards on individual
entries. He then organized them alphabetically by family name. Photo
copies of 4 cards to a page made 8 volumes, from Abrego to Zuniga.

In 1975 J. Vincent Gallagher (I
don't know the source of his information) compiled family group sheets,
entitled Early Spanish California Families fit. Their
Descendants, with little vignettes on their lives, i.e., died from
snakebite. His work is in 50 volumes from Abbey to Zurita.

Another collection was done by Marie
Northrup. Her work was based on Thomas Temple's work, and her own
research. It covers most of the early families, giving not only vital
statistics, but also information of the life of the original head of the
family in Mexico and Baja. Her work, Spanish-Mexican Families of Early
California 1769-1850, is published in 3 volumes by the Southern
California Genealogical Society.
Gene 3

All of these resources can be accessed
through the Los Californianos traveling library, at their quarterly
meeting around California. But what is considered to be the most accurate
collection is the work of Dorothy Gittinger
Mutnick.

Dorothy grew up in the Midwest, but came
to Berkeley for several summers with her historian father, who was working
on his PhD with renowned California historian, Herbert Bolton. When
Dorothy married she and her husband settled in Lafayette. In the 1960's
she became a member of the Friends of the Lafayette Public Library.
Dorothy felt that the town's residents would be able to identify with
Lafayette if they knew its past. She decided to gather local history for
the files of the new Lafayette library, but discovered a great dearth of
source materials, so she set about searching for it. She determined that
her research would be based solely on primary documents and records. To
that end, she taught herself Spanish. She read the records at Mission
Dolores and Mission San Jose. She went to the Bancroft and Huntington
libraries to read the original works of the explorers, and Pedro Font's
diaries. She recorded her information on 3x5 sheets of paper from little
scratch pads we used to buy at Woolworths for 100. She used the cardboard
backings as dividers. The Moraga History Center is the owner of all of
these pieces of paper, rumored to be more than 100,000. We have 36 card
catalog drawers filled with her notes. I am trying to work my way through
them to insert alphabetic dividers.

She then compiled these sheets of paper
into family groups, organized by family name across two pages of 8.5x11
binder paper. The left page is the fathers information, the right side is
the mothers information. If they were members of the de Anza Expedition,
their name had a (*) and then each family member was identified by how
many generations they were away from the de Anza member. This work is in 3
volumes at the Moraga History Center. The first 2 volumes contain 1,735
family entries. I have created an index to the first 2 volumes, and
working on an index for the 3rd volume.

Gene 4

The Valencia
Family entries are from #1562, Valencia &
Aguilar, to #1589, Valencia & Varela. for a total of 27 separate
families. I have included here these pages, along with her original notes
on Jose Manuel Valencia. We are working to get the index on the internet
through the Moraga Historical Society website.

Dorothy also self-published a 5 volume
set entitled, Some Alta California Pioneers and Descendents. All together
she self published 13 books on early California history. Dorothy Mutnick
was one of the 12 original founding members of the Moraga Historical
Society. She died in 1989, and left her works to the Moraga History Center
and the Contra Costa County Historical Society.

Gene 5

Another source of information are the
Census. The first census I know of is the 1790 Census of new Spain, or the
Revillagigedo Census of 1793. It is organized by the Missions. In 1790 San
Jose had 18 families listed, including my great great great great great
grandparents, Claudio Alvirez and Ana Maria Gonzales. San Francisco had 33
families listed. Entry #24 is Francisco Valencia and Maria Victoria
Higuera. This information was compiled in 1957 by William Marvin Mason*
when he discovered the documents in the California Archives collection at
the Bancroft Library. He has included other information, like a complete
list of the members of the de Anza and Portola expeditions. There is a
copy of this book at the Moraga History Center.

Another census is the Soldiers 81. Census of Early
Alta California 1779-1850, compiled by the Monterey County
Genealogical Society. It starts with a list of the soldiers at the
Presidios from 1779 to 1783, and goes through to an index of the 1850
United States census of Monterey County.

California became a state and participated in the 1850
United States Census. This census was the first to list every individual
living in the United States. (This was 15 years before the Civil War, so
Native Americans and slaves were not counted.) The census recorded name,
sex, race, age, birthplace, and location of the census. The original
records are in the National Archives in Washington D.C. In 1972 Alan
Bowman compiled an index to the California 1850 Census. The index is
arranged alphabetically by county. Twenty four of the twenty seven
counties in 1850 are indexed. Ironically, the records for Contra Costa,
San Francisco, and Santa Clara counties have been lost. Possibly destroyed
in the '06 quake and fire. A copy of the index is located at the Pleasant
Hill branch library in the genealogy collection.

While doing the research on the Valencia family, I went
to the Ancestry website to access the 1860 Census. The information in the
early census is very dependent on the literacy of the person providing the
information and the census taker recording it. When I searched Manuel
Valencia, I got it in San Mateo County. But the entry made no sense. The
names were Waloop Valencia/Pamoona Valencia/&Cassoos Maria
Valencia. I went to the Mutnick files looking for Valencias in San
Mateo in 1860. I discoverd Waloop was Guadalupe, Pamoona was Ramona, and
my favorite Cassoos Maria was Jesus Maria. The handwriting of the census
taker is very clear & readable on the original census page. This
illustrates the importance of trying to find more than one source . for
this old information.

Lastly, and now the most important source of information
is the brand new Huntington Library Early California Population Project
website. This website just came online August 1st. The project began June
2006. It contains information from 101,000 baptisms, 27,000 marriages, and
71,000 burials performed in Alta California between 1769 and 1850. No
other region of colonial America that became a part of the United States
has a database of such an extensive set of vital records. This website is
free. It is not easy to use, but has a users guide, and with practice
becomes user friendly. The website is http://www.huntington.org/Information/ECPPmain.htm.

Gene 6

One other source of original family
information is the Spanish *and Mexican Land Grants. These are located in
Sacramento at the State Archives. In 1833, my great great great great
grandfather, Jose Manuel Armenia received a Mexican land grant of 2
leagues known as Punta de Pinos Rancho. Today, it is known as Pacific
Grove and Pebble Beach.

If you want to find Alta California
ancestors, please visit us at the Moraga History Center, and we will be
happy to help you with your research.

Trip
Planned to Basque Country of Spain

Hello all you Anza groupies and aficionados, We are planning a tour to the Basque Country of Spain in April 2007.
Don Garate, author of several books on Anza and historian at Tumacacori National Historic Site, will be our tour leader. If you are interested in taking this tour, please let me know (602-300-5297) or touraz4fun@msn.com and I will be glad to give you the generalities. The specifics you should call Jill at Terra Travel directly.

We have worked hard to give you a well-rounded tour. We will be visiting many of the small villages from which many of the first Colonists' families originated and many of the early soldiers and priests came from as well as the larger cities such as Barcelona, Burgos, Bilbao and San Sebastian. We will be visiting the coast as well as the mountains. The bulls will not be running, but we will peacefully visit Pamplona, take several tours throughout our visit and enjoy the company of many great people, including some of the remaining Anza family.

Since this is a specially designed tour, the tour company and travel agency have not given us much time to get our act together but we feel we can do it. 25 people will make the tour ago and we have about 14 signed up now. Don't hesitate to call either Jill or myself if you are interested. Let's visit Spain and learn more about the places the early Spanish Colonists and soldiers came from.

After seven years in court, the dispute between Palo Alto and the owners of the Juana Briones house may be winding down, and the historic home could be razed soon.

On Tuesday, the 6th Appellate District of California Court of Appeal's ruling in
favor of homeowners Jiam Nulman and Avelyn Welczer was finalized, after neither side chose to petition the case before the state Supreme Court. The city will likely have to pay the couple $275,000 in legal fees.

The homeowners applied to demolish the house after the city asked them to restore the earthquake-damaged residence in 1999 - a condition of the Mills Act, which provides owners tax relief in exchange for maintaining historic properties.

Located at 4155 Old Adobe Rd., the home was built in the 1840s by farmer and rancher Juana Briones, who sold milk and vegetables from her home, traded hides internationally and helped manage a smallpox outbreak in Marin County, according to the Juana Briones Heritage Foundation.

Nulman and Welczer argued that a previous owner had signed the contract to maintain the home in 1988, before they bought the house. State appellate Judge Patricia Bamattre-Manoukian sided with the couple, ruling that the city had missed its opportunity to enforce the contract.

Scott Pinsky, the attorney representing the city, said the case will likely go to a "status conference" for the post-appeal procedures. "We're not exactly sure what the city has to do to address the demolition permit request," Pinsky said.

O'Progresso
Volume 19, #3 September 2000
A Heranca Portuguesa

The Portuguese of Yuba County

California celebrates its Sesquicentenial — 150 years — this month
of September, and several hundred Portuguese-Americans are linked through
ancestors to the State's founding year. Historians have estimated that
more than 800 Portuguese migrated to California in search of gold by 1860.

Some of them found their way to Yuba County, judging by the U.S. Census
for the year 1900, which shows one Joseph Costa as having immigrated in
1846. He was a farmer in New York Township, who was only 14 when he came
to the U.S. Ten years later he married Dolores, a Califomian of Mexican
heritage, and with her had eight children.

Besides the Census, Portuguese presence in early-day Yuba County is
revealed by the name Portuguese Flat given to an area near Forbestown in
the late 1890s, later renamed New York Flat. And there were two councils
of the Portuguese fraternal lodge I.D.E.S., now extinct. Council No. 77
"Amor da Irmand-ade" was founded at Rackerby in 1908, and No.
134 at Marysville in 1914.

Among the earliest immigrants, with year of arrival and occupation at
the time of the census:

Joseph S. Silvey, fanner laborer; and Joseph Lisbon, day laborer, in
1850; Manuel Coelho, farmer, 1853; Manuel Bemardo, gold miner, John Salsa,
day laborer, and Mary J. Silvey, Joseph's wife, in 1854; John Williams,
gold miner, in 1855; Manuel Silva, gold miner, 1860; Manuel Machado,
fanner, 1861; and a Manuel whose name is illegible, but looks something
like Dialery, 1855, a miner. The handwriting of census takers was
sometimes so fancy as to be illegible.

Coelho and "Dialery" were from Fisher Bar precinct, Silvey
from Slate Range, and the others from New York township, which included
Oregon House and Challenge, among other communities.

There was an earlier John Williams than the one noted above in the 1900
Census. Edward R. Schneegas of Chico is the great-grandson of a John
Williams, a farmer recorded in the 1860 Census as residing in Foster Bar
Township of Yuba County.

On researching the Portuguese side of his family, Schneegas discovered
that his great-grandfather's name was really Joao Pimentel, bom in 1817 on
Sao Miguel Island in the Azores. He Anglicized his name after arriving in
California, married Rita Marshall (born Machado), became a U.S. Citizen in
1873, and died in 1897 at age 82. Rita was the daughter of Lt. Francisco
de Souza Machado and Anna d'Azevedo, of Sao Jorge.

Schneegas writes about his great-grandparents: "After arriving in
Marysville it was on to La Pone or Comptonville by way of Oregon House,
Hansonville or Indiana Ranch. . . In 1852 they settled on 160 acres two
miles north of Oregon House on Dry Creek, now the site of the Thousand
Trails Campground."

The 1879 Thompson & West "History of Yuba and Sutler
Counties" notes in its "Business Directory of the Townships of
Yuba County" mentions only one Ponuguese name — John S.Borges, a
fanner and stock raiser on 174 acres in the Oregon House area, who came to
California from Ponugal in 1861, and to Yuba County in 1864.

He was bom Joao Silveira Borges, from a long line by :hat dual surname
in Topo, Sao Jorge, according to his grandson John Borges of Tracy. He was
the son of Joaquim Silveira Borges and Isabel Emilia Jordao Azevedo, who
had four sons from an earlier maniage to Franciso Azevedo. She and Joaquim
had two sons, one being John S. Borges. Five of her six sons came to
California, four living in the Sacramento Valley.

The 1920 Census shows John S. Borges living in Marysville, and working
for a dairyman named Reis. Two years later he moved with his family to
Ceres, pannering with his brother Alex in a dairy there. In 1925 he had
his own dairy near Tracy.

Not much else has been printed about the historical Ponuguese presence
in Yuba County, except for Peter J. Delay's 1924 "History of Yuba
County," which presents rather extensive biographical sketches of
Antone Alvemaz, Antone F. Brown, Frank M. Dutra, Manuel F. Gomes, Manuel
Leal, Henry Reis Noronha, Manuel E. Silva, and Mariano P. Vieira,
apparently important men in the county at the end of the 1900s.

Alvernaz was born in Sao Roque,
Pico, in 1866, son of Manuel and Nancy Vieira. Antone, a fanner in the
Azores like his father, married Mary Vieira, also of Sao Roque. He came to
California in 1893, first to Sacramento, then to Rocklin as a hay-baler
for five years, sometimes mining. He then bought a 400-acre ranch at
Oregon House, raising cattle, and leased land at Hallwood where he raised
vegetables, which he sold to the stores in towns, and at mining and
construction camps. Subsequently he ranched and settled in Sutler County.

Brown (usually Anglicized from Brum) spent his entire life at Dobbins,
born on a ranch there in 1883, the only son of Joseph and Mary (Freitas)
Brown, both natives of the Azores, he from Pico and she from Flores.

The elder Brown left San Francisco in 1864 and joined brother, John
Brown, in Nevada Cty, where he had gone in 1862. Two years later together
they came to the Yuba foothills and mined in partnership with two other
brothers, Frank and Antone. Joseph Brown, Antone's father, was 88 when the
E .-lay history was written, and "is in all probability the sole
remaining survivor of those who came in the early sixties to mine gold in
the vicinity of Indiana Creek." His wife reached Yuba County in 1870,
and lived in the Dutra home at Indiana Ranch until her maniage. They had
three children. Anione Brown raised hay, grew fruit and vegetables, and
also invested in quartz mines.

Frank Dutra was bom in at Indiana Ranch, near Dobbins,the founh of 14
children of Manuel and Minnie (Fereira)) Dutra, natives of Faial. The
senior Dutra was described as having landed at age 23 from a whaler at New
Bedford, Mass., who "joined the rush of gold-seekers to California,
going to Frenchtown, where he became pan-owner of the Keystone hydraulic
mine." Son Frank also mined for gold, in Plumas and Yuba Counties,
before going into farming in 1904. In 1912 he-bought a 105-acre ranch six
miles from Marysville, on which he grew peaches, prunes, grapes, and
beans. But dairying was his chief source of income.

Manuel F. Gomes was the manager of the Marysville
Creamery, which he owned in partnership with two others. He was bom in
Galveston, Texas, in 1868, but was raised in Flores, the Azores, where his
parents took him when he was two-and-a-half- years old. At age 16, in
1884, he returned to the U.S., to San Francisco, where he attended school
for two years, and then moved to Marysville in 1883, buying and selling
several ranches where he raised sheep and cattle. In 1924 he owned 1400
acres in Yuba and Sutter Counties, and several dairies, with 700 milk
cows. He married Ida Erich, and they had two children, Manuel C. and
Cecilia Gomes. Manuel Leal had purchased 120 acres of timberland in 1866,
and started a lumber and mill at Brownsville. In 1917 he built a box
factory, and kept expanding the business until by 1924 it processed
20,000 board feet of lumber per day, employing 35 men. By that time he
owned 360 acres of timberland. He was a native of Pico, bom in 1868 to
Jose and Barbara Leal. The senior Leal was a carpenter in the Azores, and
in 1850 came with two brothers to California via Panama, spending four
years in the mines of Mariposa County before returning to Pico, where he
died at age 96.

After schooling in the Azores, Manuel Leal served as a sailor on
merchant Ships, and then became a carpenter's apprentice, before coming to
America.

He landed at New Bedford in 1883, and men immediately traveled
cross-country to Redding, where he had relatives. For six years he worked
in mines and sawmills in Redding and Yreka, and then moved north to
Portland and Seattle for a year before moving to Alameda County, where he
worked eight years as a contractor and builder.

He then settled in Yuba County in 1898, mining at New York Flat for
three years, and then for seven years until 1908 in placer mining on
Honcut Creek, before engaging in the lumber business at Brownsville.

He married Mary Roderick, daughter of Manuel Roderick, who had settled
in Yuba County in 1862. The Leals had two sons, George and Ed, who were
partners with their father in the lumber business.

The 1924 history describes Henry Reis Noronha as "one of the most
successful farmers of Yuba County." He was born in Sao Jorge in 1878,
where his father, Matthias Joao Noronha, descendant of "an old and
aristocratic family of the Azores," owned orchards and vineyards.
Henry was still young when his father died. His mother, Mariana Reis, was
the daughter of Francis Reis, also a large farmer in Sao Jorge.

Henry Noronha came to Califom.a in 1894 at age 16, first working in the
co-mines at lone, Amador County, where he was injured. He then went south
to work on dairies at Santa Maria and Cambria, milking cows and making
butter, and then operating his own dairy and running a bean- and
barley-threshing outfir for six years. He sold out and moved to Marysville
in 1913, eventually buying a 1500-acre dairy ranch on Browns Valley road.
He was also half-owner of Yuba Dairy in Marysville.

Manuel E. Silva is identified more with Nevada County, where he was bom
in 1866, than with Yuba, but two of his four children — Edward and
Clarence — were ranchersin Browns Valley. Silva's father Manuel, from
Sao Jorge, left home when he was 13, and sailed on a whaler for seven
years until, in 1850, he deserted ship in San Francisco and joined the
gold rush to the mines of Placer County. His wife, Jessie Femandes, was
born on Pico, and came to California in 1860, following her brother Manuel,
who came in 1856. Silva married Rosie, daughter of Henry and Mary Silva,
of Marysville.

Mariano P. Vieira had what is described as a "highly productive fruit
farm" in District 10 of Yuba County, a long, narrow 11,000-acre strip
of fertile farmland north of Marysville bisected by Highway 70. He was bom
in Faial in 1864, the youngest of 15 children of M. P, and Henrietta
(Souza) Vieira. The senior Vieira was a sawyer by trade, and died in Faial.
Mariano's mother came to California and died at Chico in 1909.

Vieira left home at age 12 in 1876, and worked in a nail factory in
Boston until he left for California in 1880. He worked three months in a
fruit store in San Francisco, and then went to the Big River lumber camp
in Mendocino County for a year and a half as a saw-filer. After two years
at Cherokee, Butte County, with the Spring Valley Mine Company, he moved
to Yuba County in 1885.

He first bought a ranch at French Flat, and then in 1911 sold his
property, now the site of Lake Mildred, and bought a 15-acre ranch near
Marysville in 1913, raising peaches and grapes. In 1887 he married Theresa
Williams, which brings us back to the aforementioned Edward Schneegas.

Theresa was the daughter of John and Rita (Marshall) Williams, who
owned a ranch on French Flat, where she was bom. Thirteen children were
bom to the Williams couple, some of them also identified in the 1924 Delay
history with Yuba County: August, Daniel, and Henry ranching in District
10, Joseph with the Leal Lumber Company in Brownsville, and Louis mining
at Rackerby.

Speaking of Rackerby (originally known as Hansonville), it was named
for William and Ruth Rackerby who operated a general store, Rackerby's
Camp. One of their children, Nina, was married to Emanuel "Babe"
Seamas, son of a Sacramento pioneer Portuguese, whose Granger's Dairy
ranch was in the Pocket area of the city.

Naturalization of Mexican Americas by John P. Schmal
Complexities of Gay Marriages on Genealogy
Chilling Encounter in El Paso
Concha Ortiz y Pino de Kleven
Letter to the Editor, The Alburquerque Journal

NATURALIZATIONS OF MEXICAN AMERICANS:

EXTRACTS: Volumes I, II and III

By John P. Schmal

Mexican Americans have been part of the American
landscape for more than a century and a half. During this time, millions
of Mexican nationals have crossed the border to work and live in the
United States. For many Americans living today, the immigrants who came to
the U.S. between 1860 and 1950 represent a distant link to their Mexican
heritage.

However many Mexican-Americans today know little or
nothing about their ancestors who arrived in the United States anywhere
between 1848 and 1940. In some cases, these are the great-grandparents or
great-great-grandparents of young people living at the present time. Some
people may only know that their ancestors simply came from Mexico. Others
may know the name of the state that their ancestors came from but do not
know the name of the ciudad, municipio, villa or hacienda.

John P. Schmal has just published three volumes of
"Naturalizations of Mexican Americans: Extracts," Volumes 1,
2 and 3. The extracts, taken from a wide range of naturalization
documents may offer the missing link to help you explore your Mexican
roots. And those of us who have done Mexican research know that once you
get a foothold in the "Mother Country," the beautiful Mexican
records will take you places you never dreamed of, with the generous
assistance of the resources of the Family History Library. Each volume
contains records that may assist you in your research:

If you want to consider purchasing any of these books or
reading the descriptions, you can go to http://heritagebooks.com/
and enter the name Schmal in the Heritage Books web search. The code
numbers of the three volumes are: S3800, S3803 and S4113.

"Naturalizations of Mexican Americans: Extracts –
Volume I"is a
unique collection of 311 naturalization extracts, compiled from a period
of several decades and across several states. Mexico is a big country and,
as a result, Mexican nationals seeking citizenship in the U.S. have
traditionally hailed from many states. But, the three states from which
most of the citizenship candidates in this book came from are: Sonora (49
persons), Guanajuato (30), and Jalisco (25). Significant numbers of
petitioners also came from the states of Chihuahua, Zacatecas, Sinaloa,
Durango, Nuevo Leon, and from Mexico City.

The cities of birth seen most frequently in the Volume I
extracts are: Leon (Guanajuato), Cananea (Sonora), Magdalena (Sonora),
Hermosillo (Sonora), and Guaymas (Sonora). But several dozen individuals
also came from the cities of Aguascalientes, Zacatecas, Mazatlan (Sinaloa),
and Mexico City.

The naturalization extracts have been compiled from
independent research undertaken by the author and from public records of
the National Archives and Records Administration(NARA).
One hundred and thirty-seven of the naturalizations took place in
California, 46 in Arizona, 45 in Kansas, and 37 in Colorado. Early records
from Bexar and Webb counties in Texas have also been included because many
of them also contain valuable information relating to a place of birth for
Mexican Americans.

The citizen candidates were also born across a wide
range of years. Seventy-eight of these individuals were born between 1840
and 1879. Another 115 were born between 1880 and 1899, and the rest were
born between 1900 and 1925.

"Naturalizations of Mexican Americans: Extracts –
Volume II"is a
collection of 371 naturalization extracts, compiled from a period of
several decades and across several American states. One hundred and
thirty-three of the people profiled in these extracts were born before
1900, while 238 were born between 1900 and 1925. Eighty-three of the
petitioners testified in their declarations or petitions that they had
crossed the border before 1900, at a time when no border crossing records
were being kept. Another forty-five individuals crossed the border between
1900 and 1910, while the rest crossed the border between 1911 and 1940.

The states from which most of the citizenship candidates
in Volume II came from are: Sonora (95 persons), Chihuahua (40),
Guanajuato (28), Jalisco (28) and Zacatecas (16). A significant number of
persons also arrived from the states of Tamaulipas, Nuevo Leon, Durango,
Sinaloa, and from Mexico City.

One hundred and twenty-six of the naturalizations in
this volume took place in Arizona, while 45 took place in Kansas and
Colorado. Fifty-nine records from Bexar and Webb County courts in Texas
have also been included because many of them contain valuable information
relating to a place of birth for Mexican Americans. Most of the rest of
the petitions and declarations were filed in California courts.

Although Mexican Americans may have crossed the border
in at least two dozen locations in the last century, El Paso was, by far,
the port of entry most used. One hundred and seven individuals in these
extracts stated that they came to the United States through the El Paso
Port of Entry. Eighty-seven people came through Nogales and another 47
through Laredo, while significant numbers also used the Naco, Douglas and
Sasabe ports of entry in Arizona. In Texas, Brownsville, Del Rio and Eagle
Pass were used by some petitioners. Of those petitioners who crossed in
California, San Ysidro and Calexico were the two most utilized border
crossings.

"Naturalizations of Mexican Americans: Extracts –
Volume III"is a
collection of 313 naturalization extracts. Two hundred and twenty-six of
the people profiled in these extracts were born between 1840 and 1900,
while the remaining 87 were born between 1901 and 1920. One hundred and
thirty-one of the declarants and petitioners testified in their
declarations or petitions that they had crossed the border before 1900, at
a time when no border crossing records were being kept. Another sixty-five
individuals crossed the border between 1900 and 1910, while the rest
crossed the border between 1911 and 1945.

The states from which most of the citizenship candidates
in Volume III came from are: Chihuahua (38), Nuevo Leon (35), Sonora (23),
Coahuila (22), Tamaulipas (22), Jalisco (18) and Guanajuato (17). A
significant number of persons also arrived from the states of Zacatecas,
Durango, Aguascalientes, San Luis Potosi, Veracruz, Nayarit and Mexico
City. Sixty-one of these naturalizations took place in Arizona, Kansas or
Colorado. One hundred and seventeen records come from the Bexar, Webb and
Cameron County courts in Texas have also been included because many of
them contain valuable information relating to a place of birth for Mexican
Americans. The rest of the petitions and declarations were filed in
California courts.

In Volume III, El Paso was, by far, the port of entry
most used by the persons profiled in this volume. One hundred individuals
in these extracts stated that they came to the United States through the
El Paso Port of Entry. Another eighty-two individuals crossed at the
Laredo Port of Entry in Texas. Thirty-one petitioners also came through
Nogales, Arizona. Significant numbers also used the Naco and Douglas ports
of entry in Arizona. In Texas, Brownsville, Roma and Eagle Pass were used
by some petitioners. Some petitioners also crossed the California border
in the San Ysidro / San Diego area.

Complexities of Gay Marriages
on Genealogy

Mount Laurel, N.J. Two women will be listed as parents on the birth
certificate of a baby born this week in New Jersey, one of the first
implications of a state Supreme Court ruling that gives same-sex
couples access to the same rights as married couples. The state and the women agreed to in a closed family
court
proceeding Monday, the day before the child was born, that both women
could be listed in light of the landmark high court ruling. A judge
agreed with the state and the women, lawyers said.

El Paso Times, November 16, 2006 Tidbits
Sent by
Elvira Zavala-Patton who wonders.

How will this complicate listing your ancestral lines?
How do you
list your male line? Do you have a male line at all? Do you list
your
parents as female-female lines? I would think yes since these are the
parents that took you home. What do you call them? Mother1 and
Mother2, or First-Mother and Second-Mother? or Mother and Other-Mother?
The possibilities are many.

Do you have a male line and two female lines? I would think yes
since
you still need a male sperm donor for fertilization of the egg. This
new situation poses new problems which genealogists will have to
overcome by inventing new terms or devising new ways to list one's
genealogy. I wonder if the Supreme Court thought about the genealogical
ramifications of their decisions. Makes for some interesting situations!

I was interested in the story in the recent newsletter about the couple whose baby had lost a shoe at a cemetery, and when they went looking for
the shoe, it was found on the grave they had been looking for and had passed by.

I had a similar experience a few years ago when my husband and I went from our home in Washington state to meet his 94-year-old aunt in
El Paso, Texas. He had not seen this aunt or visited that town in 50 years, and was surprised that I had found her by calling all the people
living in that town with her husband's name. I had hoped to find a son of hers with the same name.

It turned out my husband's cousin had died years before, but his Aunt Lola was still alive (and still is at 97). We took her to the historic
Concordia cemetery in El Paso where I knew my husband's grandfather Primitivo (Aunt Lola's brother-in-law) was buried. She knew that he had
been buried in the same plot with his mother, Marciana, my husband's
great-grandmother and Aunt Lola's mother-in-law that she never knew since Lola had been only a small child when Marciana died.

We walked to a large old tree, where Aunt Lola remembered "Marcianita's"
grave was, but she hadn't been there in years and was having trouble finding it. It was difficult for her to walk around the gravelly,
scrubby, sandy earth that most cemeteries in the Southwest have, and she was using a cane. Everyone had split up and they were walking some
distance from the tree, somewhat giving up on the notion we would find the grave, but Aunt Lola stood steadfast near the tree, saying "I know
it is somewhere around here."

When I turned to look at her, she was resting one elbow on the back of a tall headstone. As I approached her from the front of the headstone, my
eyes were drawn to the name on a small plaque on the worn slab under that tall headstone: "Primitivo-----", and above his name, barely
visible on the older slab due to the wear it had taken from sandstorms
since 1912 was the name incised on the slab -- "Marciana----".

I felt chills, thinking, Marciana and her son had wanted to be found, and caused Aunt Lola to stop and rest her elbow on that stone so that wecould find them.

Concha Ortiz y Pino de Kleven
Sent by Dorinda Moreno dorindamoreno@comcast.net
Forwarded from Juan Fidel Larrañaga who forwarded a letter from Nancy
Brown-Martínez

Dear friends.

As we remember Concha Ortiz y Pino de Kleven in these beautiful days
of Fall, I wanted to let you know that the CSWR has a display on
Concha that is ready to travel and use.

I prepared this show for the Center for Southwest Research,
Zimmerman
Library, UNM, Alburquerque at the time of the publication of the
book
CONCHA by La Herencia. After showing in the West Wing of
Zimmerman
the exhibit was mounted at the Alb. Public Library Special
Collections
and also Los Alamos Branch Library.

The material is in perfect condition and could be used in your
place.
It is based on Concha's and the Ortiz family's archival collections
at
the CSWR - UNM and the Herencia book. At UNM the exhibit fit into 7
cases.

There is one large poster to accompany it. The pieces are all
duplicates and nicely mounted.
If you are interested in hosting it at your institution, please let
me
know. You would have to pick it up or cover shipping. Nancy Brown Martínez, Ref. Coordinator Center for Southwest
Research
Univ. Libraries, UNM, Alb. nbrown@unm.edu

Midwest Historical and Genealogical Society has a number of scrapbooks in their library that contain obituaries cut from The Wichita Eagle and Beacon. Here you will find alphabetical listings of the names appearing in those scrapbooks. If you need information about a name you find in the list send a SASE along with $3.00 (US Dollars only) for each name and we will abstract the information for you.

Mail the name of the person you wish the information on, the year, the date (if given) and the page number it appears on (if given) to:
MHGS, P. O. Box 1121, Wichita, KS 67201-1121. Please include your e-mail address if you have one.http://skyways.lib.ks.us/genweb/mhgs/obits.htm

SURNAME LISTING: Members are invited and encouraged to submit surnames to
our card file and a five generation pedigree chart to be placed on file in
the library. Each member is asked to submit an ahnentafel chart of not
more than 10 generations to be used on this web site. To find someone
researching your surname go to the first letter of your surname. http://skyways.lib.ks.us/genweb/mhgs/surname_listing

The status of Hispanos at the national, state and local levels has deteriorated over the years, even
here in New Mexico. At the national level, the commitment to equality for
Hispanos, Native Americans and African Americans and the concurrent commitment to undertake the necessary
programs and funding to elevate the educational level of Hispanos and the other minorities and
laws to ensure that there would be equitable hiring practices both in the federal government and all governments and the private sectors to elevate the number of Hispanos and other minorities
in all sectors and at all levels. At the national level, this commitment has been abandoned altogether and been replaced by tokenism and total neglect as opposed to a commitment to
working toward parity which President Lyndon Johnson instituted and which was working well.

At the state level, while we have Hispanos in high profile positions, as the report by the New
Mexico legislature shows, the vast majority of the higher level positions in the state's institutions
are Anglos. Starting at the top, we have no Hispano U.S. Senator and have not had one since
José M. Montoya, and we again need another Neomexicano of the stature of U. S. Senator
Dionicio "Dennis" Chávez to fight for the rights and needs of Neomexicanos and Hispanos and
Native Americans in Congress and to make links with Latin America as Dionicio Chávez did for
so many years. We have no Hispano Congressional Representative and have not had one since
Bill Richardson left the House of Representatives, and it is high time that we again elect our first
Hispana to the House of Representatives. Patricia Madrid was one of the beneficiaries of our
efforts and lawsuits against the New Mexico Board of Bar Examiners and the University of New
Mexico Law School in the 1970's when I was President of the Board of Northern New Mexico
Legal Services. Then, we need to restore Hispano representation to the United States Senate with
a person who will have the same commitment to the well being of our people that Senator Dionicio
Chávez had when he sponsored the "Fair Labor Standards Act," the equivalent of "Civil Rights
Act of 1964."

We Hispanos Neomexicanos are not at parity in the boards, commissions and departments of the State of New Mexico and we are drastically under represented in New Mexico's institutions of higher education even at Highlands University, in an area where Hispanos constitute 85% of the population and only 10% of the faculty. At the university of New Mexico, we have gone
backward in our numbers and percentages of representation in the administration and the faculty and of the students in the graduate and professional schools. Likewise, we have lost ground at
Western New Mexico University and the state's other universities. Similarly, we have less
representation at APS and in the schools around the state. Many of our best and brightest
Hispanos Neomexicanos have to work in institutions outside of the state because despite their
high qualifications, the Anglos who run New Mexico's institutions will not hire them, as was the case with Dr. Manuel Pacheco, except in token numbers.

After spending 42 of my 60 years combating this kind of discrimination and exclusion, I never thought that I would see this much retrenchment of the parity and equality that we and our ancestors have fought for so hard for over a century and a half. I have spent many hours traveling around the state as Chairman of the Hispano Round Table and as State Commander of the American GI Forum, working to reverse this loss of equality across the state, and everywhere it seems our representation and equality are being grossly eroded. We as Hispano, the largest population in New Mexico, must take part of the blame for this, because we have not united and worked together as we should have, and we have not allied ourselves with our Native American primos with whom we make up more than half of the state's population to have the representation we are entitled to, not to the exclusion of the Anglo or any other people, but to be equally and equitably represented in all of our own institutions in our own ancestral homelands.

We must also be aware of the fact that when we are elected to political office or hired to positions of power, that we did not "win a beauty contest," but that we have attained these positions because of the efforts and sacrifices of our ancestors who fought long and hard to open these doors for us and that we must likewise give a hand up and be mentors to our people so we can and will attain parity and maintain it. We must also be diligent, honest and above reproach, because a public trust and the public treasury do not belong to us, they belong to the people of the state, and they should receive its benefits - equally and equitably. "Con la Vara que Mides Serás
Medido"

The memorial will occupy 4 acres. To date, donations of $65 million
dollars have already come in.
Newsday.com wrote: Icons of the civil rights movement and the
beneficiaries of their struggles to attain equality came together today as
ground was broken for a memorial on the National Mall honoring the Rev.

(D-SanMateo) has
introduced H.R.
5216, the Preservation of Records of Servitude, Emancipation, and
Post-Civil War Reconstruction Act, legislation that would ensure that many
of the records important to genealogists tracing lineages involving slave
families will be preserved, digitized and catalogued.

While most Americans can research their genealogical history simply by
searching through municipal birth, death, and marriage records almost all
of which have been properly archived as public historical documents, many
African Americans face a unique challenge

wher
conducting genealogical research due to our nation's
history of slavery and discrimination, Lantos said. Instead of using
traditional genealogical research documents, African Americans often need
to identify tl name
of former slave owners. Compounding this difficulty is the fact that most
records of servitude, emancipation, and post-Civil War reconstruction are
frequently inaccessible, poorly catalogued, and inadequately preserved
from decay. My legislation preserves these pieces of public and personal
history to make them readily and easily accessible to all Americans.

H.R. 5216, builds on the

Freedman's
Bureau Preservation Act of 2000 (P.L.
Number: 106-444),
which passed both the House and the Senate unanimously in 2000 and was
signed into law in November 2000. That law required the Archivist of the
United States to create a searchable indexing system to catalogue the
geological records from the post-Civil W
Reconstruction period. Lantos
legislation builds on the success of the Freedman
Bureau Preservation Act by requiring the National Archives to properly
preserve additional post - Civil War Reconstruction records as well as
establishing a grant program for the Archivist to work with various
States, Universities, Colleges, and genealogical institutions to establish
digitized databases so that anyone in this country will have access to
these treasure troves
of information.

H.R.

5216, was introduced with over 40 bi-partisan
cosponsors and was referred to the Government Reform
Committee. They look forward to working with

You have been forwarded our new domain name website which Nana Bennie has arranged and put up as a contribution in recognition of the work we do here in Natchez relative to advocacy and actions designed to bring about equal history commemorations and democracy. He has contributed an enormous amount of factual reports on Black Union Army Freedom Fighters in the Mississippi Corridor Civil War Campaign. In addition, he has covered the Civil War waterfront in regard to Union Army Civil War freedom fighters African descent.
Sent by Dorina
Moreno Source: rgrbob@earthlink.net

Many presentations from the recent AAHGS (Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society) conference will soon be freely available for video streaming and downloading.

Presentations include:
Dr. Quintard Taylor, Jr., Author and Professor of American History, University of Washington
Presentation: Roots West: African American History in the Trans-Mississippi West

Mary Hill, Author and accredited genealogist for Southern and Eastern States
Presentation: Finding Records of Your Ancestors: 1870 to Present

Beth Wilson, Retired reference librarian for land records, African-American genealogy, and documentation research
Presentation: Trails Back: Tracing Ancestors in Slavery through Census, Probate, and Land Research

Dr. Spencer Crew, Director of the National Museum of American History, Washington, D.C.
Presentation: National Underground Railroad Freedom Center: Activities and Accomplishments

Angela Walton Raji, Author and avid African–Native American genealogist
Presentation: Beyond the Dawes Rolls: Black Indian Ancestry East of the Mississippi

Adele Marcum, Professional genealogist and content specialist
Presentation: Where Should I Start? Beginning Research on Ancestry.com

Howard Dodson, Chief, Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture at the New York Public Library Presentation: To be announced.

Birthed in a Conundrum: Nathaniel Turner

On a Saturday 5 November 1831, Nathaniel Turner was tried as an "insurgent." The 1831 Confessions
http://www.nathanielturner.com/1831confessions.htm
was entered as evidence against him. But he was a dead man as soon as he turned himself in. There was no escape; he desired to pay for his deeds, committed against those who had committed even more horrific crimes. He was ready to die as Christ on the cross. On Friday, 11 November 1831, he was taken from his jail and hanged from a nearby tree. Unlike other slaves there would be no old-fashioned funeral. No grave for him, for fear he would rise like Christ in the gospels.

That Negroes are given to superstition and for fear that some would steal his body as some suggested of the followers of Jesus, Turner's body was dismantled (skin from flesh, flesh from bone) and distributed. Recently in Indiana Richard Hatcher claimed that Turner's skull had been donated to his proposed
Museum. Hatcher Plans to Exhibit Turner Skull http://www.nathanielturner.com/hatchersskull.htm

Our mission is to defend the dignity and integrity of Nathaniel Turner, prophet of Southampton. He tried to return Christ worship back to its origins, a theology of liberation.

I have rewritten his life in prose; now I have assembled it in poems. I know such talk of Turner still frightens preachers and theologians and other conservatives who fear his thought. But we do what we must -- Rudy

The
Suquamish are descendents of peoples who lived in the Puget Sound area for
thousands of years. They were expert basketmakers, fishers, and canoe
builders. There was a transition period from the 1880's to the 1920's
during which the Suquamish went from a traditional way of life to that of
modern America. During this period all of the children between the ages of
4 and 18 were taken away from the tribe and placed in boarding schools.
Gone from the tribe during the winter months when all the storytelling,
basketmaking, and songs were taught, these children lost an important link
to tribal life. While at school they were not allowed to speak their
native language (Lushootseed) nor could they practice any of their
traditions. The children were punished corporeally for any transgression
with respect to these policies.

The
cost of eradicating the Suquamish way of life was borne by the children.
There were no child labor laws then, and the schools operated utilizing
student labor. The purpose of the schools was to make "good
citizens" of the children as quickly as possible. These institutions
also served as infirmaries during disease outbreaks, and many children
lost their lives to measles and whooping cough, for which they had no
natural immunity. Until this dark period the Suquamish thrived. What
follows is a description of the activities they engaged in to sustain
themselves.

The Port Madison Indian Reservation is located on the Kitsap Peninsula in Washington State. Situated on the waterfront across the Puget Sound from Seattle, the reservation is home to the Suquamish people, a fishing tribe whose leader was Chief Seattle, after whom the city took its name. Inhabitants of Puget Sound for over 15,000 years, the Suquamish document their history through legends and song.

Tribal Heritage
and Military Valor: Suquamish Honors American Indian Veterans

At a Saturday event, the Suquamish Tribe begins dedicating a new memorial
for Native Americans who fought for their country By Josh Farley, jfarley@kitsapsun.com
November 19, 2006 Sent by Willis Papillion willis35@earthlink.net

He wears a hat with his many military decorations on his head; a bear
tooth from tribal elders around his neck. Bruce Anthony is both an
accomplished Marine and a proud Suquamish Tribe member. He feels an
immense camaraderie from both the heritage of which he was born and the
hard work he accomplished for his country.

"Being in the service is your chance to give back to your country for
the things they've given to you," said Anthony, whose tours in
Vietnam included reconnaissance work as a Marine sergeant.

Anthony is one of what will likely become hundreds of tribal members to be
honored at a new memorial near the Suquamish Tribal Center, one partially
unveiled at the annual Suquamish veterans powwow and celebration Saturday
afternoon.

A permanent memorial to the tribe's veterans is nearly complete. A
triangular concrete design, the monument has five sides - one for each of
the armed services - each of which will soon list Suquamish veterans. An
eagle will grace the top of the memorial.

Anthony, now a Bremerton-area construction manager, joined the service on
the advice of a "kid across the street" from where he and his
mother, attending "Indian reform school," were living in the San
Fernando Valley. The kid told Anthony he should sign up for the military,
instead of being drafted.

"They were messing around in Vietnam and needed some help,"
Anthony said of the country. Anthony earned Purple Hearts and other medals
while serving. He also went on
to serve in the Air Force four years.

He thanks both his heritage and the military for bringing him where he
istoday: "I've been all over the world, and the only place I want to
be is right here."

Anthony was not alone in his appreciation of serving in the armed forces
at the feast and ceremony. The military offered tribal members an
opportunity in a time when the Suquamish "worked out of boxes,"
said Bruce Belmont, a veteran who served in both the Navy and National
Guard.

Belmont, who grew up in Indianola, completed two tours of duty in Vietnam
and served in the Navy over two decades. "I didn't have anything to
come back to," Belmont said of Suquamish. But that was then, he said.
Nowadays, the retired Belmont said the tribe is
far more organized, far better equipped to help its youth. Now, he said,
the military doesn't have to be the tribe's only source for opportunity.

But for some in his generation, such as Bremerton-raised Suquamish member
Marjorie Napoleon, it was just that - a chance for more education and more
career possibilities.
Napoleon joined the Army in October 1949, and ended up working in the Army
Corps of Engineers, spending much of her time in Europe.

"I think being Native American makes you proud of your country,"
Napoleon
said. "It makes you want to serve it."

Glass Bridge Construction of the Skywalk, Colorado
Sent by Sal Del Valle sgdelvalle@msn.com

GLASS BRIDGE: Construction of the Skywalk began March of 2004 and is estimated to be completed by 4th quarter of 2006.
Glass Bridge will be suspended 4,000 feet above the Colorado River on the very edge of the Grand Canyon. On May 2005, the final test was conducted and the structure passed engineering requirements by 400 percent, enabling it to withstand the weight of 71 fully
loaded Boeing 747 airplanes (more that 71 million pounds).

The bridge will be able to sustain winds in excess of 100 miles per hour from 8 different directions, as well as an 8.0 magnitude earthquake within 50 miles.. More than one million pounds of steel will go into the construction of the Grand Canyon Skywalk.

Film:
The Last Jews of Baghdad - End
of an Exile, Beginning of a Journey
S: Judios y Arabes ocultaban sus apellidos
S: Juan Mendez of the Canary Islands
Remnants of Crypto-Jews Among Hispanic Americans, Appendix Part III

Film:
The Last Jews of Baghdad - End
of an Exile, Beginning of a Journey American Sephardi Federation
with Sephardic House announced its 2006-2007 film series. All will
screened at the Center for Jewish History, 15 West 16th St. New York
City.

The Last Jews of Baghdad was completed in
2004. It runs 110 minutes. A study of the devastation of the
once-flourishing Iraqi Jewish community through anti-Semitic persecution,
and the horrific regime of Saddam Hussein, this film takes a historical
and personal look at the persecution, torture, escape and exodus of
over 160,000 Iraqi Jews between 1940 and 2003 utilizing documentary
footage and interviews with the Jews who fled their beloved homeland of
over 2500 years.

For information or to RSVP contact Ellen Cohen at 212-294-8350 x4 or by
email at ecohen@asf,cjh,org

"Eight men created the Grand Lodge of Masons in New Mexico one
mid-summer day in 1877. . . . New Mexico had become a part of the United
States at the close of the war with Mexico thirty years earlier. While
there had been a few Americans in the territory before 1846, at the time
the Grand Lodge was formed there were still only a few thousand who had
come to this new and rugged country from the states. Perhaps ninety
percent of those residing in the area were of Mexican or Indian
background. Those people had little or no knowledge of Masonry. Their
church discouraged Masonic affiliation. . . . Yet perhaps the greatest
need of these men was friendship with those holding like beliefs."102

"There are many common themes and ideals in Masonic and Jewish
rituals, symbols, and words. Judaism's most basic teaching is to believe
in God who created everything in our existence and who gave us laws to
follow, including the requirements to act honorably and kindly toward
everyone. Belief in God, prayer, immortality of the soul, charity, and
acting respectfully to all people are essential elements of Freemasonry as
well as Judaism, and of course other religions too."103

According to the Institute for Marrano-Anusim Studies (Casa Shalom),
crypto-Jews living in Spain have participated in masonic organizations.
Their involvement in freemasonry might have been a form of networking for
"advancement and integration" into the societies to which the
"Marranos" migrated. 104

Menorah

"Candelabrum. There were seven branches in the original oil menorah
used in the Tabernacle (Exo. 25:37) and later in Solomon's Temple. It is
this menorah that Titus is said to have carried away after the destruction
of the Temple and that is pictured in bas-relief on the Arch of Titus in
Rome. On Hanukkah an eight-branched menorah (plus a shammash, or servant
candle) is lit to commemorate the Maccabean victories."105

Cecil Roth, in his book, The Religion of the Marranos, explains: "The
handful of twentieth-century references to crypto-Jewish celebration of
Hanukkah-such as the report that it is sometimes celebrated in Portugal as
the Feast of the Little Candles or even 'Little Christmas'-probably derive
from the modern Jewish observance of Hanukkah or the calendar association
of Hanukkah with Christmas" (qtd. in Gitlitz 377).106

Messianism

"The belief that Jewish people and all humanity would be led to a
golden age of perfect justice and universal peace by a Messiah, an ideal
king and a perfect man. The Hebrew mashiah means 'one anointed with oil,'
the ancient way of dedicating a man to a special service or office.
Mashiah Adonai, the Anointed of God, was a title of honor given in the
Bible to the kings of Israel."107

"A second set of crypto-Jewish beliefs dealt with the concept of the
Messiah. Medieval Jews rejected the idea that Jesus was the Messiah or
indeed that the Messiah had come."108

"Many converses believed that the apocalyptic messianic age would not
begin until the Jews had sufficiently atoned for their sins. ... Of course
many converses thought that their most egregious sin was to have converted
in the first place. As Fernando de Madrid put it in 1491, before the
Messiah could appear the converses must first suffer for having become
Christians."109

"Why are mezuzot (singular, mezuza) placed on the doorposts of Jewish
homes? The mezuza is a piece of parchment inscribed with verses from the
Bible. It is rolled up, inserted in a case, and attached to the doorpost.
"That a mezuza be placed on the doorposts of every Jewish home is
mandated in the Bible: 'And thou shall write them [the commandments] upon
the doorposts of thy house and upon thy gates' (Deuteronomy 6:9). Its
function is twofold:
to serve as a reminder of God's laws and to serve as a symbol of a Jew's
loyalty to the Jewish people."110

"Why is the mezuza also called the Shema? The passage (Deuteronomy
6:4-9) written on the mezuza parchment begins with the word shema, 'hear.'
The full verse is, 'Hear 0 Israel [Shema Yf'srae/], the Lord our God, the
Lord is One' (Deuteronomy 6:4). Because of the popularity of this verse,
which is part of every religious service and is also recited nightly as a
bedtime prayer, many people refer to the mezuza by the first word of the
verse."'111

"Why is the mezuza kissed? It is Jewish tradition to kiss a holy
object as a gesture of reverence. Many Jews follow the custom (of Talmudic
origin) of touching the mezuza with the fingertips, kissing them, and
reciting, "May God protect my going out and coming in, now and
forever.'"112

Mis Christmas

Before Christmas, many converse children would go around to houses of
grandparents, great-grandparents, etc. and receive small gifts. Father
Clemente Carmona says, "I believe this is a leftover from Chanukah. I
remember going to my grandparents and great-grandparents and receiving
nuts, oranges, apples, and sometime coins wrapped in cloth."113

"Qucwg Chanukah ft ^s customary to distribute coins . . . to the
children.
"Reason: The Greeks wanted to tear the Torah from Am Yisrael.
Accordingly it is necessary during these days to intensify honor for the
Torah by encouraging the children to study. As the Rambam (Hil. Teshuvah
10:5) writes: Therefore when we teach the children ... we initially teach
them to serve Hashem out of fear, and then to receive reward.' And in his
commentary on the Mishnah (to Sanhedrin ch. 10), the Rambam describes how
the teacher induces the young student to learn Torah. The teacher says to
him: Read [a little] and I will buy you pretty shoes, or precious clothes.
Afterwards the rebbe should tell him: Learn this parashah or that chapter
and I will give you a dinar or iwo.' For this reason during Chanukah we
distribute prize money to the children so they should study Torah
more."114

Mitzvot

"In its strictest sense, it refers only to commandments instituted in
the Torah; however, the word is commonly used in a more generic sense to
include all of the laws, practices and customs of halakhah, and is often
used in an even more loose way to refer to any good deed."115

See alsoHalakhah Names

"The northern half of Portugal. .. became an enclave of exiled openly
practicing Spanish Jews and Crypto Jews pretending to be New Christians.
Not surprisingly, new townships bearing identical names of older Spanish
villages
began to dot the landscape. At the same time, many families seemed to have
dropped their actual last names and adopt the names of their family's
hometown. Only when arrested by the Inquisition-and usually under torture
or threat thereof-did the true family name emerge. Those never arrested-as
well as those who 'could not remember' or 'did not know' the names of
their relatives and ancestors-would forevermore carry the names of the
provinces and/or townships from which their families had been
expelled."116

Stephen Oilman, in his book, The Spain of Fernanda de Ro/as, explains:
"At first converses routinely took three sorts of surnames: the name
of the town where they lived, or of the saint on whose day they were
baptized or the church in which they were baptized, or of the Christian
godparents who stood up with them at the baptismal font" (qtd. in
Gitlitz 202).117

Father Carmona

"Firstborn children were often given the same names from generation
to generation. My grandfather was Clemente; my great-grandfather was
Clemente, I am Clemente. If a Clemente died and had property, as long as a
living Clemente existed, the property stayed in the family. The oldest had
the same name down through the generations. It would perhaps confuse the
Inquisition."118

New Christians

"Riots took place in Toledo in 1449, but this time the victims were
not the Jews. Now the converses and their descendants, or nuevos
cristianos, bore the brunt of the local anger; society was divided again,
but this new division separated the Old Christians from the New
Christians. The latter included those who had been baptized at birth as
Christian and experienced their entire lives as Christians, but whose
ancestors had converted some time earlier. A new basis of exclusion had
been created: one's origin was now the essential factor. Following the
violence there, the municipality of Toledo in 1449 established the
Sentencia-Estatuto, excluding Jews and converses of Jewish origin from
public office; purity of blood (limpieza de sangre) was to become the
essential requirement for one to hold civil or ecclesiastical office, to
bear witness, to serve as a notary, or to display authority over an Old
Christian."119

New Moon

"Rosh Hodesh (New moon). Traditional Judaism considers each month's
new moon a joyous occasion to be celebrated with special prayers. [Renee
Levine Melammed, in her book, Women in (Post 1492) Spanish Crypto-Jewish
Society: Converses and the Perpetuation and Preservation of Observances
Associated with Judaism, explains:] The celebration does not appear to
have been common among crypto-Jews, although there are very sporadic
references such as those of Elvira de Mora [Alcazar, Castile 1590], who
recalled observing the first day of the month as a holiday.... Genaro
Garcia, in his book, Autos de fe de la Inquisicion de Mexico con extractos
de sus causas, 1646-48, explains:] The appearance of the new moon was
observed festively in seventeenth-century Mexico.... Clara Nunez said her
parents had taught her to 'worship the new moon, standing at the window,
bowing to it the way her uncle did'" (qtd. in Gitlitz 393-94).120

New Spain

"The Spanish throne divided its New World colonies into
viceroyalties. The first two were Mexico and Peru, or, as they were known
officially, New Spain and New Castile.... Mexico consisted of what is now
the southwestern United States, all of Mexico and Central America, the
Spanish islands in the Caribbean, principally Santo Domingo, Puerto Rico,
Cuba, and, in the Far East, the Philippines."121

0ld Testament

"The name given to the Hebrew Bible [\.o\ distinguish it from
Christianity's New Testament."122

Pan De Semita

"This unleavened bread still prepared and eaten by the descendants of
the Crypto Jews and their Christian counterparts of northeast Mexico and
South Texas during Lent, which happens to coincide with the Feast of
Passover, can be found with or without raisins and/or pecans. . . . The
Autos de Fe of 1646 through 1648, recorded the identities of the women who
used to make the unleavened bread in Mexico City and Veracruz."123

"Pan de Semira was eaten in pre-inquisition Spain by a Jew or an Arab
Moor. Today, it's popular in Texas and in that part of Mexico bordering
Texas. It translates into English as 'Semitic Bread'. It's a
Mexican-American custom in the Texas and Tex-Mex border area today to eat
pan de semita during Lent which occurs on or around the Jewish
Passover."124

Panocha

One of the ingredients of capirotada is "the 'old world' sugar known
as 'panocha.'"125

See also Capirotada

Passover

"[Following is one of] the religious beliefs of the Jews of the late
sixteenth and most of the seventeenth century. . . . Pacua de ceceno, The
Festival of Unleavened Bread, falls on March 14. (Actually, Passover never
falls that early. There is no specific secular date because of the Jewish
use of the lunar calendar for religious observances.) To deceive
Christians, the word Phase was substituted for the name of
Passover."126

"In Hebrew, Pesach. Anniversary of Israel's liberation from Egyptian
bondage. The holiday begins on the fourteenth day of Nisan and lasts for
eight days. It reminds each Jew that if God had not freed his forefathers
'he and his sons and the sons of his sons would still be slaves to Pharaoh
in Egypt.'"127

"The matzot, or unleavened bread, which gives Passover the name Hag
Hamatzot, the Feast of Unleavened Bread, is eaten in memory of the
unleavened bread prepared by the Israelites during their hasty flight from
Egypt, when they had no time to wait for the dough to rise. Since no
leavened bread or food containing leaven may be eaten during Passover,
special dishes and household utensils are used during the eight-day
observance. Laws are prescribed for the cleaning or scalding in boiling
water of utensils which are used throughout the year but also on this
holiday."128

"On this occasion, the Haggadah, or narration, is chanted as the
events of the Exodus from Egypt are told. . . . The Sector service is one
of the most colorful and joyous occasions in Jewish life. It is adorned
with ancient ceremonies and symbols which recall the days when the
Children of Israel were liberated from Egypt."129

"The chanting of Shir Hashirim (Song of Songs) adds a spring-like
atmosphere at the end of the Seder service. Symbolically, it is a song of
love between God and the people of Israel."130

"The Talmud lists five grains that may be used to make matza for
Passover. Joseph Caro, the Sephardic author of the ShulchanAruch, states
that rice and other legumes (kitnit or kitniot in Hebrew) may be used
during Passover. Sephardic Jews follow this ruling.

"The Ashkenazic community, following the lead of Moses Isserles,
prohibits the use of rice and legumes not because Jewish law bans them
directly, but because their use might lead to possible confusion in the
kitchen."131

"Eating cactus and egg omelets is a custom during the Passover
week/Lent of secret Jews of the 17thcentury and of Mexican Americans from
Texas and northern Mexico today. The omelets are called nopalitos
lampreados. It's a custom to eat only this food during Lent."132

"The egg-A hard boiled egg represents the Holiday Offering in the
days of the Holy Temple. The meat of this animal constituted the main part
of the Passover meal."133

"Bitter herbs remind us of the bitterness of the slavery of our
forefathers in Egypt. Fresh horseradish, romaine lettuce and endive are
the most common choices."134

"Quelite is a wild bitter herb common to northern Mexico, Texas and
the U.S. Southwest. A number of families interviewed in the Lower Rio
Grande Valley of Texas add bits of quelite to their Easter Sunday dinner
as a side vegetable."135

Seymour B. Liebman, in his book, The Jews in New Spain, informs us that,
"Some colonial Mexicans fasted during the day for the whole week of
Passover..., Fasting 'had become so ingrained that many thought that every
holiday had to be accompanied by a fast'" (qtd. in Gitlitz 384).136

Penitentes

According to Alberto Lopez Pulido, who researched the Penitentes, his area
of concentration was "on their core religious concept of doing
penance through charity, prayer, and the good example. He explains that
for the Penitentes, prayer is a form of action and acts of charity are
tantamount to prayer-and that both provide good examples to the
brotherhood and the community at large."137

Jose CabezudoAstrain, in Los converses de Barbastro y e/ apellido 'Santangel',
explains: "Prior to the Expulsion many converses who were
comparatively well off thought it their duty to help their financially
disadvantaged Jewish friends and relatives, and the Hebrew word for
charity, tzedakah, frequently appears in trials covering events of this
period" (qtd. in Gitlitz 589).138

Purification

"According to Leviticus 12:2-8 a woman is 'unclean' for seven days
after the birth of a son and fourteen days after the birth of a daughter.
She is 'impure' for periods of forty or eighty days respectively. . . .
There are examples [according to Ramon Santa Maria, in his book, Ritos y
costumbres cte /os hebreos espanoles,} from the late fifteenth and early
eighteenth centuries of converse women refraining from entering a church
for forty days after giving birth." 139

Amilcar Paulo, in his book, Os judeus secretos em Portugal, explains:
"Remnants of after-childbirth purification ceremonies have surfaced
in this century among the cristaos novos of the Tras-os-Montes region of
Portugal. Even today some conversas in Beiras and Tras-os-Montes do not go
to church for forty days following childbirth" (qtd. in Gitlitz
209).140

Purim

"The Feast of Lots. This holiday falls on the 14th oiAdar,
commemorating a day on which Jews were saved from their oppressors. Read
on the evening and morning of the holiday, The Book of Esther relates how
Haman drew lots to determine when to put Jews of Persia to the sword.
Fortunately, Haman's scheme was foiled by the faithful Mordecai and by
Queen Esther.

"Purim is celebrated with great merriment after the fashion of the
Persian Jews who made their victory over Haman an occasion 'for feasting
and gladness.' During the reading of the Book of Esther, children twirl
noisemakers in derision at every mention of Haman's name."141

"Among converses much more popular than Purim itself was the Fast of
Esther (Ta'anit Esther}, which occurs on the thirteenth oiAdar, the day
before Purim, and commemorates the fact that Esther fasted before she
approached King Ahasueros to plead for the Jews (Esther 4:15-16). Because
fasts were much easier and safer for the crypto-Jews to keep than feasts,
the Fast of Esther grew to rival the feast on the following day and
eventually came to be the equal of the fast of Yom Kippur. . . . Later
generations of new-Christians frequently referred to her as Saint Esther,
a name by which she is recalled by remnant new-Christian communities in
the twentieth century, among whom she is venerated almost like a Christian
Saint."142

"[Purim] was not celebrated in the New World as the happy holiday
known to other Jews. The crypto-Jews compared themselves to Esther,
Mordecai, and the Jews who lived under the rule of the Medes and Persians
and who were threatened with annihilation because of the machinations of
Haman."143

Quelite

"Apart from being the required bitter herb of the Passover Seder
usually served with cabrito (instead of lamb), the Spanish colonial folk
song of unknown authorship titled 'El Quelite' is of utmost
interest."144

Rosh Ha-shanah

"Literally, the New Year. The cycle of the High Holidays begins with
Rosh Ha-Snanah. Falling on the first and second days of the month of T/shri,
it introduces the Ten Days of Penitence, when Jews examine their souls and
take stock of their actions. The season, beginning with the New Year on
the first day of Tishii and ending with Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement,
on the tenth, is known as 'Days of Awe.' The tradition is that on Rosh Ha-Shanah
God sits in judgment on humanity. Then the fate of every living creature
is inscribed in the Book of Life or Death. These decisions may be revoked
by prayer and repentance before the sealing of the books on Yom
Kippur."145

Sabbath

"The climax of the Jewish week is the Sabbath, the seventh day of the
week. The holiness of the Sabbath is stressed in the fourth commandment
(Ex. 20:8-11), 'Remember the Sabbath Day to keep it holy. Six days shall
you labor and do all thy work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath Day unto
the Lord thy God.'"146

"It is an everlasting sign between God and Israel: 'For in six days
the Lord made Heaven and Earth and on the seventh he ceased from work and
rested' (Ex.31:17). The Sabbath day also is a reminder of the liberation
from Egyptian bondage. It has served as a lesson to all humankind,
proclaiming the need of human beings for a day free from labor and devoted
to spiritual matters."147

"The Sabbath was observed from the setting of the sun on Friday until
after sunset on Saturday [according to religious beliefs of the Jews of
the late sixteenth and most of the seventeenth century]. Two people
testified that one must see three stars in the heavens on Saturday night
before the Sabbath was considered terminated. (This is still regarded as
correct.) Clean shirts must be worn on the Sabbath 'similar to the custom
of the Christians on Sunday.' The Sabbath is a reminder of the creation of
the world and that God rested on the seventh day after completing His
work. Therefore, during the Sabbath, no kind of work might be performed.
Some shopkeepers opened their stores on the Sabbath to avoid suspicion of
being a Jew, but they made no sales and accepted no money. Psalms of
praise should be sung on the Sabbath, no fires should be lit, and only
those foods prepared prior to the advent of the Sabbath might be
eaten."148

Saints

"In the seventeenth century, there was a common use of Santo,
'saint,' as a title for Moses and several Jewish prophets. This is an old
Spanish custom and not the result of acculturation from Christianity, as
were some other customs."149

Salt

"Contamination being attributed in ancient and primitive thought to
the machinations of demons, and salt being regarded as an incorruptible
and cleansing substance, it was natural that the latter become a
universally regarded potent against the evil forces. It was for this
reason that mothers salted their babies, a ritual which included but was
not limited to Hebrew women."150

"The common practice of bringing salt and bread into a new home
before moving in, usually explained as symbolic of the hope that food may
never be lacking there, was probably also in origin a means of securing
the house against the spirits."151

Sephardim

"Sephardim [are the] Jews of Spain and Portugal or their descendants,
distinguished from the Ashkenazim chiefly by their liturgy, religious
customs and pronunciation of Hebrew."152

Shema

"The declaration of faith in the unity of God, traditionally recited
mornings and evenings: 'Hear, 0 Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is One'
(Deut. 6-.4-9)."153

"When Hebrew prayer books disappeared, only the most fundamental and
frequently repeated Hebrew prayers remained in the communal consciousness:
the affirmation of the oneness of God (the Shema); the daily blessings;
and recurrent portions of daily, Sabbath, and festival prayers such as the
Kaddish, the Amidah, and a number of blessings and hymns. Those prayers
which were not already firmly committed to memory disappeared almost
instantly."154

"The central and most common precept for the Iberian crypto-Jews was
the belief in a unitary God in contrast to what they considered to be the
tripartite or plural God of the Christians. Jews are uncompromising
monotheists for whom belief in a single God is the most important article
of faith. The affirmation of monotheism is the first two of the Ten
Commandments (Exodus 20:2-3) and the substance of Judaism's most often
repeated prayer, the Shema."155

Shivah

"This stage covers the seven days following burial and includes the
three-day period of lamentation. During this time, the mourner emerges
from the stage of intense grief to a new state of mind in which he is
prepared to talk about his loss and to accept comfort from friends and
neighbors. . . . Sheloshim-Tb\s period consists of the thirty days
(counting the seven days of shivah) following burial. The mourner is
encouraged to leave the house after shivah and to slowly rejoin society. .
. . The twelve-month period (counted from the day of burial) [is the time]
during which things return to normal, and business once again becomes
routine,"156

See also Yahrzeit ' Siddur

"The daily prayer book. Since prayer in a synagogue came to take the
place of animal sacrifices after the destruction of the Second Temple, the
prayers in the Siddur were arranged to follow closely the order of
sacrifices in the Temple. The three daily services are included in all
daily prayer books, though some editions contain numerous additions, such
as the Psalms and The Song of Songs. Many editions of the daily prayer
books include the Sabbath and Festival prayers, as well as Pirke Avot (The
Ethics of the Fathers). The oldest of the prayers is the Shema (Hear, 0
Israel)."157

Superstition

"Superstitious beliefs and practices were common to all Jews, but
some indulged in by the crypto-Jews were indigenous to the New World or to
the villages in Spain or Portugal from which they or their parents had
come."158

"Isolated on the outer edges of the Spanish North American Empire,
far removed from the European Judaic centers of learning, Talmudic schools
and yes/was, orally passing down a set of religious beliefs, surrounded by
hostile Indian cultures and constantly wary of being denounced by friend
or foe to the Inquisition, many Sephardic practices and beliefs were
easier to preserve and hand down as 'superstitious practices'. Those
practices, however, vary from one family to another depending on (1) the
degree of a family's assimilation to the Christian environment, (2)
success of the concentrated 20th century Mexicanization effort, (3) impact
of U.S. education, (4) residence distance from the U.S.-Mexico border, and
(5) a family's socio-economic status."159

"Evil Eye. Superstition dating back to the Talmud and common among
non-Jews as well, according to which someone may be cursed by someone
else's evil glance. Amulets were used to ward off the evil eye."160

October 2006 will mark the 200th anniversary of Juan N. Seguín’s birth.
Seguín was the leading Tejano (Mexican Texan) military figure of the
Texas Revolution and a member of one of San Antonio’s most prominent
families. He went on to serve in the Senate of the Republic, as mayor of
San Antonio, an officer in the Mexican military, and a figure in Bexar
County politics in the 1850s.

In recognition of the
anniversary the History Department at Texas State University, San Marcos, hosted a
one-day symposium highlighting the role
of Tejanos in the history of Texas,
from Mexican independence in 1821 to Texas annexation in 1845. The goal
for the symposium was to introduce to the public a select group of Tejanos,
most of whose efforts have been relegated to obscurity, who had a major
impact on the development of Texas during the critical years when it
passed from a Mexican * Adán
Benavides & Gloria Candelaria
frontier province to the 28th state in
the Union.

*Adan Benavides is the author of The Bexar Archives (1717-1836), a
Name Guide puplished by the University of Texas Press, Austin, 1989)

Conference Information sent by Sent by Gloria Candelaria
candelglo@sbcglobal.net
who writes: "Mimi, I attended the Oct 14
conference in San Marcos, Tx on "Tejano Leadership in Mexican and
Revolutionary Times" Let me say the Conference was fastastic!

Laredo's Society of Martha
Washington

The world
of the Texas-Mexico border has always been inscrutable to outsiders.
Consider the pageant presented by Laredo's Society of Martha
Washington—part of a month-long celebration of George Washington's
birthday, held since 1898. The notion of honoring our founding father and
his kindly wife a stone's throw from Mexico seems almost comical. It's
hard to associate that particular George W. with the dry, dusty scrub of
South Texas. Laredo's blocky Civic Center, where local debutantes are
presented in an annual and very lavish tribute to Mrs. Washington, is a
far cry from the serene repose of Mount Vernon. Yet the ability to take a
leap of faith into another world is what the border has always been about.
Those who make the place their home know how to live in at least two
worlds, accepting both and judging neither.

So on a blustery Friday night in February, a stage has been transformed
into a replica of the Washington's drawing room, right down to the
twinkling crystal sconces and the pale green, period-hued walls. Seventeen
local belles make their debuts, teetering across the stage in elaborate
gowns while a narrator praises Martha Washington's simple virtues with a
solemnity that would satisfy the finickiest member of a First Family of
Virginia.

But because this is the border, the first First Lady is extolled
bilingually: Martha was "la primera dama de nuestra nación,"
who "put her country and the General above herself." And, also
because this is the border, there is something just a bit zany about the
celebration. When you combine the psyche of wealthy Mexico with that of
wealthy Texas, more is always going to be more. Debs in New York might
display their well-practiced curtsies in spare white gowns and gloves, but
these girls make their bows in dresses of gleaming satin and thick velvet,
so encrusted with ruffles, beads, and lace that they elicit gasps from the
audience. Two notable Laredoans have been chosen to portray George and
Martha, and on this, supposedly the President's last night in office, the
First Couple's life is reenacted, with the debutantes and their escorts
all playing roles. As each young woman is introduced, violins or the U.S.
Army fife and drum corps playing, it is noted whether her mother or
grandmother or great-aunt made her debut as "a Martha," whether
her father or grandfather or great-uncle ever played George Washington,
and whether she or her escort—from an equally fine old family—was ever
an "abrazo" child: Every year a boy and a girl from
Laredo embrace their counterparts from across the border in Nuevo Laredo
on the International Bridge before a huge, cheering crowd, epitomizing the
love that people on both sides have for each other.

And so life has gone for more than a century here, where the cultures have
not so much collided as colluded to form one region, separate and apart
from both home countries. The two Laredos, it has been said, beat
"with one heart." This particular stretch of border is both
baroque and byzantine, the most stratified and status-conscious of border
towns, part Texan, part Mexican, and somewhat American, with rules,
rituals, and folkways that have grown as complex and vibrant as the
bougainvillea that blooms along columns and rooftops in so many local
yards.

It would be easy to make fun of Laredo and its pageant. In these days of
war, famine, global warming, and the ever growing divide between rich and
poor, an elaborate tribute to Martha Washington by debs wearing gowns that
weigh 85 pounds (40 kilograms) and cost in the neighborhood of $30,000 is
something of an easy target. Recently, however, change has come to the
region—in the form of drug violence across the border and, emanating
from Washington, battles over immigration—threatening a way of life that
has persisted here since the first Spanish settlers arrived in the 1700s.
This year, despite the jeweled gowns and effusive abrazos at the
celebration, it was natural to wonder whether Laredo's oldest families
were honoring the past or clinging to it. And that didn't seem funny at
all.

This story is personal for photographer Penny De Los Santos. Since childhood, her parents insisted that she stay connected to her South Texas Latino roots. That understanding of her people led her to pitch the article idea to National Geographic.
She reveals Mexican traditions that cross all classes as well as those that embrace the American side of an unwavering bicultural bridge. http://www7.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/0611/feature3/multimedia.html

Society of Martha Washington Pageant and
Ball in Laredo, Texas. What began in 1898 as a simple celebration of
George Washington's birthday, meant to infuse the border town's largely
Mexican population with American patriotism, has evolved into a month-long
celebration with dozens of events.

In the SpotlightPhotograph by Penny De Los Santos

[[Editor:
The photos are stunning and the expense of the dresses constructed for the
occasion is absolutely amazing. I had hoped to capture some of the
photos, but was not able to do so. I strongly suggest that you go to
the site and view this remarkable event.
There are 16 photos. Below are some of the subtitles to give you an
overview of what goes on. ]]

Perfect as porcelain dolls, debutantes and their escorts are formally
presented to 1,500 paying guests at the Laredo Civic Center, in a ritual
designed to preserve the established social order.

Alyssa Cigarroa, accompanied by her
escort, Christopher Kimmel, bows before the crowd during her center-stage
moment at the Society of Martha Washington pageant. "When I was very
young, in second grade, my grandmother took me to my first pageant,"
says Alyssa. "Since then I wanted to be a part of it."

Debutante Sara De Leon Ferrara grabs a
quick dinner backstage during a final rehearsal, her dress protected by a
queen-sized bed sheet. Wearing the jewel-encrusted dresses, which
typically cost $30,000 and weigh 85 pounds (40 kilograms), is no picnic.
"It takes at least three people to help you get into it—first the
corset, then cage, then petticoat, then dress," says Sara.
"Three or four people have to carry it all.

El Mercado, Laredo

Many moons ago my father took me several times in the 40's to El Mercado to buy meats and other groceries. Our neighbor in
Laredo Eloy Cantu told me that his Dad was butcher at the Mercado. It was like produce and meat market only I believe. Que mas ???

I remember El Mercado, than turn to the police station, then to the City Hall, The public Library was in the second floor and the police was moved to the rear by St Augustine St.
Now, the Art Center and Historical Foundation and some other office are part of the Old Mercado..
Walter Herbeck epherbeck@juno.com

2nd Annual Birthday Celebration in Honor of Adina De Zavala

Adina De Zavala was the granddaughter of Lorenzo de Zavala, the first Vice President of Texas and was one of the state’s premier preservationists. She is considered by many to be the patron saint of historic preservation in San Antonio.

In 2005, the Friends of Adina De Zavala were formed in an attempt to keep this great woman’s memory alive and to further add respect and honor to her and her family’s rich legacy in Texas. On November 28th, her birthday, a public celebration was held at the Spanish Governor’s Palace to honor her.

“Adina was a true heroine to the San Antonio community,” says Rudi Rodriguez of the Friends of Adina De Zavala. “Her efforts helped preserve our Tejano and Texan heritage. She was descended from one of the legendary Tejano families in Texas and was a true pioneer.”

"We are honored to keep Adina De Zavala's name and memory alive. She was the "first lady of preservation in San Antonio, if not Texas,” says Maclovio Perez of the Friends of Adina De Zavala. “Adina did more than fight to save the Alamo, she advocated for many of our historical buildings that we now take for granted. Were it not for her, the Alamo wouldn't be what it is and the Spanish Governor's Palace might have been demolished. She dedicated her entire life to preserving our past. The least we can do is gather once a year and celebrate her life and contributions. She was half Mexican and half Irish, making her a formidable little lady."

Biography:
In 1912, Adina organized the Texas Historical and Landmarks Association, which placed 38 markers at historic sites in Texas.

She probably did more than any other single person in stirring interest in the preservation of the Spanish Governor’s Palace in San Antonio, which was finally purchased in 1928 by the city and restored.

In the 1930s, she helped establish the location near Crockett, Texas of sites of the first two missions established in Texas by the Spanish. In 1923, Gov. Pat Neff appointed her to the Texas Historical Board, and she was one of the original members of the Committee of One Hundred appointed to plan for a state centennial.

She also served on the advisory board of the Texas Centennial Committee. She was a charter member of the Texas State Historical Association and a member of the executive council of that body beginning in 1919. In 1945 she was elected an honorary life fellow of the association. Adina was a dedicated Catholic and a member of the United Daughters of the Confederacy and the Texas Folklore Society.

Texas Tejano.com is proud to honor this legendary patriarch of Texas history. It is part of our mission to ensure that the legacies of Tejanos and Tejanas are not forgotten. In 2007, we will be honoring other Tejanos and Tejanas who contributed to the growth and development of Texas with a series of ambitious projects that we will be alerting everyone to in the near future. These events include the 3rd Annual Tejano Vigil at the Alamo, a Tejano Symposium, the 3rd Annual De Zavala Birthday Celebration and more. If you would like to be a part of these or any other of our future, please contact Rudi R. Rodriguez (210) 673-3584.
publications@texastejano.com
Also sent by Larry Kirkpatrick elindio2@hotmail.com

VELA, FILEMON BARTOLOME (1935-2004). Filemon Bartolome Vela, jurist, was
born May 1, 1935 in Harlingen, Texas. He was the eighth of nine children
of Maria Luisa and Roberto Vela, Sr. His mother died when he was 11-years
old. His father operated a small grocery store and was a notary public.
Following his graduation from Harlingen High School in 1954, Vela enrolled
in Texas Southmost College, Brownsville, an institution which five of his
brothers were also to attend. He went on to the University of Texas at
Austin but postponed his studies to serve in the United States Army,
1957-1959. After his service he entered St. Mary's University Law School,
San Antonio where he received a Doctor of Jurisprudence degree in 1962.
Returning home he entered into the private practice of law, served on the
Brownsville City Commission from 1971 to 1973, then in 1975 he took office
as a state judge in the 107th Judicial District for Cameron and Willacy
Counties. He served in this capacity for five years before President Jimmy
Carter nominated him as a federal judge in 1980 to fill the seat vacated
by Judge Reynaldo Garza. He served as such until the year 2000 when he
retired and received senior status yet continued to sit on the bench until
2004. In summarizing his 29 years of judicial service he was characterized
as "a fair but strict judge…"

Judge Vela taped more than 200 radio programs stressing
the value of an education, encouraging children to stay in school, and
promoting literacy programs." He was a mentor to many in the legal
profession. He was honored as a TSC Distinguished Alumnus in 1998 and by
having a middle school in Brownsville named in his honor. His character
was once best described as "a bear—a grizzly on the bench, but of
the teddy bear variety in everyday life."

On April 13, 2004 at age 68, he died from stomach cancer
in Harlingen. He was survived by his wife, Blanca Sanchez Vela who for a
period served as mayor of Brownsville, three children, and three
grandchildren.

On June 29, 2005 President George W. Bush signed a bill
designating the United States Courthouse and Federal Building constructed
in 2001 at Sixth and Harrison Streets, Brownsville as the Reynaldo G.
Garza and Filemon B. Vela United States Courthouse.

In December 2004 an envelope
of golfing photos connected with the Harlingen Municipal Golf Course ended
up at the Harlingen Public Library. They had been sent by Crystella Liston
Holloway of Gilmer, Texas. The library asked if I could supply some
background on the various individuals, some of whom were identified on the
reverse side of photos.

I took the photos next door to my neighbor, Dan Palmer,
who was a long time avid golfer. One of the people he could readily tell
me something about was Al Escalante. He appeared in a photo with Harlingen
Mayor (1928-36) Sam Botts and a tall, unidentified, young Anglo golfer.
Each had been presented a trophy. Upon going to Google I located a
reference to an Alfonso Escalante. I e-mailed the webmaster of this B-29
World War II subject site and learned that this was indeed the Al
Escalante of Brownsville.

Here is what I compiled for the library: Alphonso (Al) Escalante shown in these photos ( taken
between 1928 and 1936) appears to be in his late teens. He was born in
Brownsville in 1916. He along with an unidentified individual appears to
have been a tournament winner. The photos of him are likely from the mid
to late 1930s. His parents had been born in Mexico. His father was a pro
at the Brownsville Country Club and the family lived adjacent to the
course. Upon his dad's death in 1935 Al, at age 18, took up the golf
pro-manager reins at this club.

He participated in World War II and likely had attended
college previously because he had a rank of captain. He was a member of
the 330th Bombardment Group (VH) which flew B 29s from Iwo Jima and Guam
and bombed Japan in 1945. Al was a bombardier who possessed amazing 20-10
vision. He flew under LtCol. R. B. Smisek in the K-29, "City of San
Francisco". The window nose of the plane had Al's wife's name, Ozelle
painted on it. Escalante earned the nickname '88 Keys' after he mistakenly
bombed a piano factory in Tokyo.

He went on after the war to instruct golf, supervise the
upkeep of the golf course, and operated a pro shop at Fort Davis, Texas,
then moved on to Cristobal, Canal Zone, and then back to the Brownsville
Country Club. In June of 1951 at age 34 he moved to the 800 member Mexico
City Country Club. After 3 ½ years there, he returned in November 1954 to
Brownsville as pro and was given a hearty welcome-back reception. However,
in 1957, he was to leave the Valley for good when he moved to Monterrey to
take on the job at a newly expanded course at Valley Alto. Around 1963 he
accepted a position with the Club de Golf Chapultepec, a large country
club near Mexico City. He was a pro there for more than 35 years.
Escalante died in 2002 at age 85, having given a golf lesson a few hours
before. His wife Ozelle died in 2004.

The webmaster had given me the e-mail address of Al's
oldest child, daughter Cynthia, living near Mexico City. She was able to
furnish information on her father. Her brother Jimmy, who currently
resides in the upper mid-west, also contacted me. A third sibling was
middle child Craig. Cynthia related to me "Al was proud of being born
a Texan", and I add "an accomplished one at that."

1853, The Epidemic Summer, A Review of the Yellow Fever
Update Hurricane Damage to Archival Collections
Louisiana Soldiers During the War of 1812
Louisiana Infantry 1779-1781 Website
The new face of Appalachia

1853,
The Epidemic Summer, A Review of the Yellow Fever

If you have an ancestor that you believe may have died in New Orleans that year, check out the Louisiana USGenWeb Project, Orleans Parish
Archive, which includes an index to the burials in New Orleans that
summer. In New Orleans, Louisiana, that year "Yellow Jack," or yellow fever,
wreaked havoc killing more than 7,800 people. http://www.nola.com/haunted/rue/index.ssf?content/yellowfever.html

The December issue of Le Raconteur reported on damage to Louisiana
records from the two hurricanes, Katrina and Rita. Following information
was current as of mid-February.

Notarial Archives - On January 9th the Notarial Archives Research
Center at 1340 Poydras St., Suite 360, reopened to researchers. Its hours
are 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday. According to Archivist Ann
Wakefield, FEMA had initially told the agency that it would not assist in
paying the expense of moving the books from their temporary location in
the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center to the new location on the 5th
floor of the Poydras building because the original location (i.e., the
basement of the Civil District Courthouse) was in a functional building.
Fortunately, FEMA came back a couple of weeks later and said that it would
actually be illegal for the Notarial Archives to move the records back
into the basement because of the possibility of its flooding again.
Therefore, FEMA will assist in the cost of moving the books to the new
location.

Vital Records Registry - As reported in the December issue, birth,
death, and marriage records housed at the Loyola Ave. building were moved
from the basement to higher floors before the flood and were not
significantly impacted. Since then, all records have been moved to a
building near the intersection of Airline Dr. and Causeway Blvd. This
facility, however, does not offer counter service for walk-in patrons.
Walk-in service is being offered at 1855 Ames Blvd. in Marrero and at 111
North Causeway Blvd. in East Jefferson.

New Orleans Public Library - The week after Thanksgiving, the Louisiana
Division of the New Orleans Public Library reopened two days a week. Then
in January, it expanded its hours to Monday through Friday, 12 to 4 p.m.
The City Archives remains in the basement for the time being, however, the
library is working with their foundation on a solution to this problem.
Diana Williams, a graduate student at Harvard University, is also urging
an effort to microfilm and remove records from the basement. For more
information, see her website, www.people.fas.harvard.edu/.....
dwilliamlsavethehistory.htm.

Tulane University - As previously reported, Jones Hall,
which housed the library's Special Collections, had about four feet of
water in the basement. According to the library's website, http:/library.tulane.edu/news/archive/02032006
collections katrina.php, an effort was made to retrieve everything of
value, more than 4,000 boxes of material. Manuscripts including the
personal papers of several local figures and the records of a local bank
were damaged. All salvaged material is now frozen for transfer to Belfor's
restoration facility in Fort Worth.

Archdiocese of New Orleans - The archives is currently operating out of
the Catholic Life Center in Baton Rouge. Although none of the records in
the archives itself were damaged, some records in the individual parish
churches were lost or damaged. Damaged records have been relocated to
Baton Rouge. Lost or damaged records will be reconstructed from microfilm.
Genealogical and historical research in the archives is suspended until
after the return to New Orleans, tentatively scheduled for this summer.
Each request will be assigned a number and notification of when research
is resumed will be forwarded at a later date. Requests should be submitted
(without fees) to archives@archdiocese-no.org.

Louisiana Historical Center - As previously reported, the roof of the
Old Mint building in which the Louisiana Historical Center was housed was
damaged and will not reopen before 2007. According to Kathryn Page,
Curator of Maps, Manuscripts & Special Projects, the French and
Spanish Colonial Court records housed in the building were undamaged and
have been placed in. storage. The Louisiana Historical Center will be
reformulated, but it is unclear at this time whether or not it will be
housed in the Old Mint or another Louisiana State Museum facility in New
Orleans.

St. Bernard Parish Clerk of Court - According to information given by
the Clerk of Court to the State Archives staff, all real estate records
(mortgages and conveyances) had been digitized prior to the storm and
backups are safe. Juvenile, adoption, civil, DCC, and probate records are
at the BMS Cat facility (a disaster recovery firm) in Fort Worth and
should be returned shortly. The marriage records are also in Fort Worth
and are believed to be 99% fine. The status of the 1% will not be known
until they are returned. The records that were lost were some of the most
current civil records, which the Clerk's office is currently recreating,
all of the criminal records, and all evidence and exhibits (both civil and
criminal).

Cameron Parish Clerk of Court - According to the Clerk
of Court, some of the probate and succession records were damaged from
Hurricane Rita and have been sent to Fort Worth for restoration. The
Clerk's office is working out of a trailer in front of the courthouse.
Welham Plantation - According to a Le Comite member, records from Welham
Plantation (St. James Parish) which were in the possession of a former
owner who lived in Metairie were completely destroyed.

LOUISIANA: Louisiana Soldiers in the War of 1812 (Pierson)

Marion John Bennett Pierson Anyone familiar with Andrew Jackson's historic, if belated, victory at the Battle of New Orleans in 1815 and the other exploits of Louisianans during the War of 1812 will be interested in this edition of Pierson's Louisiana Soldiers in the War of 1812 , a complete roster of the 12,500 persons who took part in that great conflict. The soldiers are arranged in alphabetical order, and for each we are given his full name, rank, and
company(ies) served in. Painstakingly compiled by Mr. Pierson from the card files
of the office of the Adjutant General in Washington, D.C., this work is a comprehensive index to the compiled service records of the 1812 soldiers from Louisiana. Persons
interested in seeing a copy of any of the actual service records referred to in this book may obtain that record from the National Archives for a fee. This work is reprinted with the kind permission of the Louisiana Genealogical and Historical Society, the original publisher of the book in 1963. Paperback, 126 pp., (1963) Reprint 2005 Details
http://www.ancestorstuff.com
Item Number: 502W-9273 $9.00
Media: book List Price: 23.50 Our Price $14.50

The new face of Appalachia
As Latino immigration, legal and illegal, reaches the rural Southeast, passions, jobs, politics and pulpits are changing in towns such as Morristown, Tenn.
By KIM COBB, Houston Chronicle (October 22, 2006)
Sent by Howard Shorr howardshorr@msn.com

MORRISTOWN, TENN. - She sits toward the back of the storefront church, her silver hair and aquarium-blue eyes shining in the low light. Elaine Solomon likes the way the place makes her feel. She likes the families swaying, clapping and singing with raised hands to a ranchera-style praise band.

There are plenty of places to find God in Morristown but few places for a 70-year-old woman to learn Spanish. So there she is, week after week at a Latino Baptist church, learning the language of the newcomers, the people some of her neighbors call "the invasion." "Somebody needs to learn to talk to these people," she said.

Latino immigration has been changing the face of the United States for decades. Immigrants follow certain jobs, and the fastest-growing Latino communities these days are in Southeastern states such as Tennessee.

But no one in Morristown expected it to come here. Framed by the Appalachian Mountains and an insular culture of mostly white residents, much of east Tennessee is an old, familiar photo in a worn frame: winding roads, clapboard houses and mile after mile of farm-furrowed green.

Even in thoroughly modern Morristown, tied to the rest of the world through manufacturing, the arrival of "these people" is quickly changing a region that has clung to a shared cultural and ethnic identity since the 1700s.

This kind of change can feel threatening, all mixed up in knotty questions about legal and illegal, assimilation, job loss and fear. At the very least, people are conflicted.

There's also been a lot of sign-waving and harsh words aimed in the past year at illegal immigrants here. Morristown's police chief is uneasy about the potential for violence, thanks to gut-stirring visits from the Tennessee Volunteer Minutemen and the Ku Klux Klan.

'Little Mexico' : Hamblen County's resident Latino population jumped from a few hundred to as many as 10,000 in the past decade, and the Pew Hispanic Center estimates that more than half the immigrants arriving in southeastern communities are illegal. Cumberland Avenue on the town's south side has been transformed into a commercial strip dominated by Latino restaurants, specialty stores and used-car lots.

"I mean, right here, where our church is, is Little Mexico," said the Rev. William Burton of Iglesia Bautista La Gran Comision, or The Great Commission Baptist Church.

The pastor is an exuberant, round-faced white man who speaks the Spanish he learned as a missionary in Venezuela with a decidedly Tennessee accent. His congregation began as a Bible study group at another Southern Baptist church. The study group grew, and Burton eventually began offering an early service on Sunday mornings in Spanish.

But, the young minister said, his devotion to the newcomers created resentment among some of the church's established members. It was never put into words, but Burton felt the challenge to choose "between us and them."

"Of course, my heart was with 'them,' " he said. Burton quit and took his new flock with him. Six years down the road, La Gran Comision is flourishing in a salmon-colored stucco building that used to be a grocery store.

And Solomon, whose roots in Appalachia run deep, is soaking up Spanish. A retired practical nurse, Solomon works part time at a pregnancy-support center with a growing list of Spanish-speaking Latina clients. She lowers her voice and adds quickly, "We're anti-abortion."

Solomon is among the half-dozen whites who attend Burton's church services.
Yes, Solomon agrees, Morristown is insular. But she also sees similarities between the Latinos and the region's historically Scots-Irish and German population that some might not see in themselves.

"I guess in a way they are like Appalachians," Solomon said. "I never considered myself Appalachian until I read a book called 40 Acres and No Mule, and I discovered I am Appalachian. You have a feeling for the land and an attachment to the, you know, between families.

"We're clannish — and I see the same thing in these people."

Perception vs. reality: There are plenty of people here who feel as if they're being run over at the intersection of demographic and economic change.

"I don't want my grandson to have to learn Spanish — he's an American," fumed Judy Mitchell, whose family has lived here for more than 200 years.

Morristown does not fit the Appalachian stereotype of quaint villages and hillbilly shacks. It's a factory town with the usual Ameri-bland assortment of burger joints, drugstores, a Wal-Mart. For generations, the spectacular mountain greenery visible from the highest points in town was a wall between Morristown and change.

But change has come. Now, when residents say they don't like to travel the area along South Cumberland Avenue after dark, they mean they fear the newest arrivals who frequent the Latino businesses there.

That fear may be overblown. Roger Overholt, the chief of police, said the crime rate among Latinos is not much different from that of their neighbors. Cases of public intoxication and cars being abandoned after accidents increased with the arrival of Latinos, he said. But an education campaign about American law reduced the problem.

Morristown averages one homicide a year. There were five in 2002, which Overholt called "probably our worst year." None involved Latinos killing whites.

Still, the perception of danger is strong: "I came out of South Florida ... because I couldn't speak the (Spanish) language and I had to carry a gun," property manager Ronald Barwick said. "This was not Florida. People worked on a handshake and spoke English. (Now) the
illegals have really taken over this county."

Settling in, sort of: The immigrants rub shoulders with the whites in jobs and stores and schools. But life is what happens at home and in church. You can't marry in Hamblen County without a Social Security number — an obvious hurdle for the many immigrants who don't have one. So on a Saturday afternoon in June, as he frequently does, the Rev. Burton journeyed to nearby Granger County, where there is no such restriction, to marry two young members of his congregation.

It was an outdoor ceremony held under a spreading magnolia tree — what Burton called "a real Southern wedding" except for the Mexican tradition of wrapping a lasso around the couple as a symbol of their union.

Some Latino residents said Morristown is becoming more comfortable. Even with the occasional protests mounted against illegal immigrants, they can shop, dine and worship in places where Spanish is spoken.

And there is work: Juan Madrigal, his wife, Erica, and baby daughter Zuri are regulars at Burton's Thursday night services, basking in the sense of family they find in the congregation. Public protests against illegal immigrants do not concern them.

"We're not afraid because if they deport us, they'll deport us to our country," Madrigal said. It's hard to think about whether they prefer life here to their old home. Madrigal was only 17 when he left Mexico. "We're happy here," Madrigal said. "You get used to a community and a house and a way of life, and if we go back to Mexico we're going to miss this place."

But in the white community, it's hard for some people to separate uneasiness about the new population from resentment over the slow demise of the old way of life.

Global give-and-take: In recent years, Hamblen County learned what globalism meant by watching its biggest factories shut down and many good-paying jobs move to cheap-labor countries — such as Mexico.

But free trade in Morristown cuts both ways. Many Mexican farming communities suffered financially when forced to compete with American agricultural products. The stream of immigrants to the United States from farm states such as Michoacan and Oaxaca grew in the mid-1990s as word spread about low-skill factory and agriculture jobs in east Tennessee.

So here's what it looks like from some corners of Morristown: The jobs went to Mexico, then Mexico came to Morristown.

Residents of Southwest border states have long been immersed in the debate over illegal crossings. Texas has had a large Latino population for more than a century, most of it legal and destined to become the majority by 2040.

Morristown, by contrast, is mired in culture shock. "You know, I thought our community was doing well," Burton said. "And then our county commissioner, Tom Lowe, started all that nonsense about wanting to charge the federal government for so many illegals."

About 85 percent of the Hamblen County budget is spent on the local school district. Lowe started asking pointed questions about how much it costs to educate students who cannot speak English.

Lowe, a flush-faced pharmacist with curly, strawberry-blonde hair, has plenty of critics. But the town's "fence-sitters" began openly supporting his calls for enforcement of immigration law, Lowe said, after they saw Latinos waving Mexican flags at pro-immigrant rallies.

"I think America is in great distress over this," he said.

Effects of extremism: Turmoil in Morristown started when a group calling itself the Tennessee Volunteer Minutemen began organizing against the illegal population. At least, that is the view of Lisa Barba, a regional organizer for the Tennessee Immigration and Refugee Rights Coalition.

Lowe is tired of hearing allegations from city leaders that the Klan is involved in the anti-illegal-immigrant movement here. It's a smear, he thinks, to paint everyone concerned about illegal immigration as racist.

Burton thinks the white community is learning to bend with the changes, but he expects real acceptance of the newcomers may be slow in coming.

"We are a closed culture," the clergyman said. "I mean, our mountains have separated us culturally from the rest of the U.S. It's not necessarily just Latinos — it's anybody from, you know, the north or any place else that is not from here."

Last Days of British St. Augustine
Woodrow Wilson Sesquicentennial at National Archives

Florida: The Last Days of British Saint Augustine, 1784-1785

Lawrence H. Feldman In 1763, East Florida was ceded to Britain by the Treaty of Paris which concluded the French and Indian Wars, only to be returned to Spain twenty years later as part of the settlement of the American War of Independence. This intriguing volume is based upon an examination of a census of the "English residents at the time of change of Flag," that was conducted by the newly installed Spanish government between August and October 1784. Mr. Feldman has culled every reference to non-slave, non-Spanish heads of households found in the Spanish census. In all there are 740 entries, each giving the name of the household head, nation or colony of origin, occupation, and number of persons per household. In many instances, the annotations also refer to the householder's city of origin, if married, number of children and/or slaves, location of residence in St. Augustine, intentions with respect to Spanish citizenship, or more. Wherever possible, Mr. Feldman has embellished the entries with information about the householders beyond 1784 based on his own research. Supporting the text itself are a number of important appendices, including: a list of the English militia on August 6, 1784; an alphabetical list of the residents of St. Augustine by street; and a listing of free or runaway African Americans giving their current circumstances. Rounding out this volume of interest to researchers with ancestors who may have migrated to or from East Florida at this time is a complete name index to all persons found in the census.

The National Archives celebrates the 150th birthday of Woodrow Wilson with special programming including an evening with
H.W. Brands, a Hollywood feature film, and a day of family activities.

Thursday, December 7, at noon
William G. McGowan Theater
December 7th (1942)
In commemoration of the 65th anniversary of the attack on the naval base at Pearl Harbor, which propelled the United States into World War II, The Guggenheim Center for the Documentary Film at the National Archives presents the rarely seen 85-minute version of John Ford's documentary. The 20-minute version won an Academy Award in 1943. Produced by the Naval Photographic Branch, Office of Strategic Services.

Thursday, December 7, at 7 p.m.
William G. McGowan Theater
Wilsonians All!
Woodrow Wilson's vision of American responsibility for international order*radical when proposed, rejected by the Senate during his Presidency*has become commonplace, even if its implications remain controversial. Join H. W. Brands, historian and author of Woodrow Wilson, 1913*1921, as he examines how this happened and what it means. This program is presented in partnership with the Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library in celebration of the Wilson Sesquicentennial.

Friday, December 8, at 7 p.m.
William G. McGowan Theater
Wilson (1944)
Eric Vettel, Executive Director of the Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library in Staunton, Virginia, will introduce this superbly crafted biography starring Alexander Knox as Woodrow Wilson. The film won five Academy Awards. It chronicles the political career of Woodrow Wilson, beginning with his decision to leave his post at Princeton to run for Governor of New Jersey, and his subsequent ascent to the Presidency of the United States. Also stars Geraldine Fitzgerald and Thomas Mitchell. Directed by Henry King. (154 minutes.) Presented by The Guggenheim Center for the Documentary Film at the National Archives in partnership with the Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library.

Sunday, December 10, noon*3 p.m.
William G. McGowan Theater and Lobby
Games, Hobbies, and Pastimes of the Wilson Era
Family Day Celebration

Celebrate President Woodrow Wilson's 150th birthday! Meet Wilson and his wife Edith and learn how Prohibition caused Americans to seek a variety of new leisure activities during the Wilson era.

Drink To Your Health!
The 18th Amendment outlawed the sale of alcohol. Sip a cup of lemonade and ask a temperance activist why she supports Prohibition.

Play Games Galore!
The card games Pit, Rook, and Flinch were popular during the Wilson era. Try a puzzle or build with TinkerToys or Lincoln Logs, both created during Wilson's administration.

Unravel Puzzling Patents!
An increase in technology during the early 1900s resulted in an explosion of newly patented items. Play the Patent Puzzler game, featuring patents found in the holdings of the National Archives.

Plant a Victory Garden!
Mrs. Wilson and many American families planted Victory Gardens to help the war effort. Join the effort*decorate a garden stake and take seeds to plant in the spring.

Laugh at Silent Shorts!
President Wilson often invited friends to his home to screen silent films. Join the fun today by viewing some favorite comedic shorts of the Wilson era. Buster Keaton stars in One Week (1920), Cops (1922), and The Balloonatic (1923). (Each film 20 min.)

This book makes it clear that Mexicans kept very good records, and outlines
where to find such resource and how to use them. In addition, it provides
a basic introduction the Spanish vocabulary researchers are likely to encounter
in their research and includes useful Mexican historical and geographical
context as well.

George R. Ryskamp, JD, AG, teaches Latin
American and southern European family history and the use of American
legal documents and concepts in family history at Brigham Young
University, where he also serves as director of the Center for Family
History and Genealogy and the immigrant Ancestor Project. He is a
fellow the Utah Genealogical Association, a Miembro Académico of the
Academia Americana de Genealogía and a corresponding member of the
Academia Real Martritense de Genealogía y Heráldica.

Peggy Hill Ryskamp has done Hispanic family history in the United States
and on numerous trips to Spain and Mexico for more than twenty
years. Coauthor of a Student's Guide to Mexican-American Genealogy,
a speaker at local and national conferences, and former coeditor of the
Genealogical Journal, she juggles client work and writing.

[[Editor: I can't say
enough about the Ryskamp's dedication to researching Spanish records. The
first Hispanic family history conference that I attended was organized by
the Ryskamps. The first book on the subject that I purchased was authored by
George. They are recognized internationally for their work among Spanish
language documents. In spite of their scholarly work, Peggy shared that this
book was written in a friendly manner. She said it is both a primer, but also includes hints
for intermediate and advanced research.
It would make a good Christmas present for those primos that you want to get
involved.]]

Cinco
Puntos Press is proud to present the English edition of a remarkable
collaboration between Mexico’s best independent press, Ediciones
ERA, and Mexico’s Institute of Anthropology and History. The
photographs of Las
Soldaderas: Women of the Mexican Revolution and Elena
Poniatowska’s commentary rescue the women of the Mexican
Revolution from the dust and oblivion of history. These are the Adelitas
and Valentinas celebrated in famous corridos mexicanos, but whose
destiny was much more profound and tragic than the idealistic words of
ballads. The photographs remind Poniatowska of the trail of women
warriors that begins with the Spanish Conquest and continues to
Mexico’s violent revolution.

Elena
Poniatowska—journalist, novelist and cultural commentator—is
one of Mexico’s most widely translated and celebrated living writers.
Poniatowska is the recipient of numerous awards and honors, including a
Guggenheim Fellowship and an Emeritus Fellowship from Mexico’s
National Council of Culture and Arts. She was the first woman to win the
Mexican national award for journalism.

The Casasola
Collection/Archive is based on the work of Agustín Casasola
(1874-1938), one of the first photo-journalists in Mexico and founder of
the photo agency which bears his name. The archive provides an
unparalleled visual record of Mexican political life, social
environments and public concerns in the first half of the twentieth
century.

Eagleknight.com focuses on
records from the state of Nuevo Leon, Mexico. Webmaster Michael A.
Carrillo says that his research is among the baptismal records, census
records and Hispanic genealogy books of the Cadereyta Jimenez area.
His research and data collecting has been compiled into three books, thus
far, which are available for purchase.

Volume 1: With Complete Baptismal Extractions for
1806-1815
This study includes 1,869 baptismal records for the given period. Most
Baptismal records include the Baptismal date, race, age in days, child's
name, parents' names, town of origin, grandparents' names and padrino
name(s). Copyright 1998, pgs 193.

Volume 2: With Complete Baptismal Extractions for 1816-1825
This study includes 2,866 baptismal records for the given period. Most
Baptismal records include the Baptismal date, race, age in days, child's
name, parents' names, town of origin, grandparents' names and padrino
name(s). Copyright 2000, pgs 289.

Volume 3: 1827 Census
Description: This study includes 5,032 listed individuals from 1,411
households from Cadereyta and the municipal area. This area includes 32
surrounding Haciendas, Ranchos and communities. Copyright
2003, pgs 198.

Remains identified: Prosecutors said Tuesday in Mexico City that they
have identified the remains of of two men gunned down more than 30
years ago in a government campaign against suspected reels rebels and
their supporters. Investigators said they were able to identify the
skeletal remains of Lino Rosas Perez and Esteban Mesino Martinez from
DNA samples from their sisters. The two men were killed on Dec. 2,
1974, along with legendary guerilla leader Lucio Cabanas, in a
gunbattle with authorities in the village of Otatal in southern
Guerrero state.

El Paso Times, November 16, 2006 Tidbits
Sent by
Elvira Zavala-Patton

True Tales From Another Mexico
by Sam Quinones

HAVE PHOTO

"True Tales From Another Mexico" takes us to the Bronx - the rude boys of Mexico's Congress. It immerses us in the world of Oaxacan farmworkers in Baja California. We see how a bunch of illiterate rancheros invented the Michoacana ice cream stores and turned it into the most successful small-business in Mexico. We visit the cult of Nueva Jerusalen, a theocratic village run by a charismatic excommunicated Catholic priest, where residents receive voting instructions from the Virgin of Guadalupe.

These are the stories of people whose stories never get told. "This is a scrappy, lively, solid work of reportage about the real modern Mexico. It's insightful, crammed with information and a terrific read."
_Alma Guillermoprieto, Latin American writer, the New Yorker_ "This book expands our knowledge of modern Mexico many times over. Quinones unearths a wealth of material that has in fact gone unnoticed or been hidden."
_Prof. Francisco Lomeli, University of California, Santa Barbara._

Nuestros Ranchos: Jalisco, Zacatecas y Aguascalientes

Are you researching your ancestors that at sometime lived in or were
from Jalisco, Zacatecas, and/or Aguascalientes? If you are a
"Serious" researcher the http://NuestrosRanchos.com group might be
an environment helpful to you. We are a group of about 150 individuals
researching this area and would welcome you if you are willing to abide
by the two simple requirements for membership:
1) State that you are willing to do your own work. There are many groups
on the internet for the "Casual" genealogist, but Nuestros Ranchos
is not such a group. By "Casual" I mean those that do very little or
nothing to advance their genealogy and are only looking for others to do
the work and then claim it as their own. The "Casual" genealogist is
not welcome in the http://NuestrosRanchos.com group.
2) Demonstrate your willingness to do your own work by sending in a
small "representative" branch of your genealogy tree that shows your
connection to our area of research. [Note: no we are not wanting you to
send it every document you ever discovered or your gedcom or your years
and years of research findings, just a "representative" tree. The
group is open to all levels of researchers so if you are just beginning
and really have nothing to submit then we'll accept a short account from
your family's "Oral History" that gives you the understanding that
Jalisco, Zacatecas, and Aguascalientes are the states of your genealogy
research].
If you need time to think about membership I would encourage you to go
to the http://NuestrosRanchos.com site and read through the extensive
"Public" archives. [Note: Submitted genealogies are considered the
copyright protected property of the submitter and are kept in a
"private to group members only" area of the group].
any questions or comments? Ask one of the moderators: Arturo Ramos,
Rosalinda Ruiz, Joseph Puentes at Moderator@NuestrosRanchos.com
Submitted by MariaCortez on 10 November, 2006 to Nuestros Ranchos
Posted on: http://www.nuestrosranchos.com/node/

"The Library of Congress has a lot of documents, books
and manuscripts on their website. One manuscript of particular interest to
this group is the title in my subject line, written by Mexican lawyer,
Matias de la Mota Padilla in 1742. It is hand-written, but very legible.
It contains a lot of names of people and places dating from the Conquest
to 1742 in Nueva Galicia. The link to the Library of Congress is already
in the links section. You can find the book by clicking on
"Collections" and then browsing through the list of Selections
from the National Library of Spain."

Genealogical Contributions
identified by Benicio Samuel Sanchez GarciaBenicio Samuel Sanchez Garcia, President of the Presidente La
Sociedad Genealogica del Norte
de Mexico has sent a message of thank you
to those who have participated in sharing their pedigree information with
others. Below is how
it can be done, and also identifying what has already
been sent. To get in touch with anyone whose information might be of
interest, you may send an email to to everyone at: Genealogia-Mexico@googlegroups.com
or to Benicio at eventos@genealogia.org.mx.

3. ALONSO2 SANCHEZ (ALONSO1 SANCHEZ-DE-TOLEDO) was born in Fuensalida, Toledo,
Castilla, Spain. He married BRIGIDA RODRIGUEZ, daughter of DIEGO DEL ALAMO and ANA RODRIGUEZ. She was born in
Huescar, Spain.
Child of ALONSO SANCHEZ and BRIGIDA RODRIGUEZ is:
i. ALONSO3 SANCHEZ-RODRIGUEZ.

Generation No. 3

4. CAPTAIN ALONSO3 PEREZ-DE-LEON (LORENZO2 PEREZ, ALONSO1 SANCHEZ-DE-TOLEDO) was born 30 Aug 1608 in Mexico City,
D.F., Mexico, and died 17 Jul 1661 in Montemorelos, Nuevo Leon, Mexico. He married JOSEFA GONZALEZ-HIDALGO-LEAL 23 Feb 1634/35 in
Huichapan, Hildalgo, Mexico, daughter of ANTONIO LEAL and MARIA GONZALEZ-HIDALGO. She was born 1619 in
Huichapan, Hidalgo, Mexico, and died 05 Dec 1699 in Cadereyta Jimenez, Nuevo Leon, Mexico.
Notes for JOSEFA GONZALEZ-HIDALGO-LEAL:
She signed her last will and testament on December 5, 1699 at Huichapan, Hidalgo,
Mex.

Children of ALONSO PEREZ-DE-LEON and JOSEFA GONZALEZ-HIDALGO-LEAL are:
i. JOSEPH4 DE LEON-GONZALEZ, d. Cadereyta Jimenez, Nuevo Leon, Mexico.
ii. CAPTAIN LORENZO PEREZ-DE-LEON, b. 1637, Huichapan, Hidalgo, Mexico; m.
ANA-MARIA-CANTU-DEL-RIO-Y-DE-LA-CERDA, 1669; b. Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, Mexico.
iii. GENERAL ALONSO DE LEON-GONZALEZ, b. 1639, Huichapan, Hidalgo, Mexico; d. 21 Mar 1690/91, Presidio San Francisco.
Coahuila, Mexico; m. AGUSTINA CANTU-DEL-RIO-Y-DE-LA-CERDA-TREVINO, 1661; d. Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, Mexico.
Notes for GENERAL ALONSO DE LEON-GONZALEZ:
Don Alonso de León, the younger, Spanish explorer and governor, third son of Alonso De León and Josefa González, was born in
Cadereyta, Nuevo León, in 1639 or 1640. At the age of ten he was sent to Spain, where he enrolled in school and prepared for a naval career. He joined the Spanish navy in 1657, but his service as a naval cadet was brief, for he had returned to Nuevo León by 1660. Over the next two decades he led a series of entradas that traversed the northeast coast of New Spain as well as the banks of the Río de San Juan. By the 1680s De León had become a seasoned outdoorsman and successful entrepreneur. In 1682 he petitioned the viceroy of New Spain for a franchise to work salt deposits along the Río de San Juan, open trade with neighboring settlements, and search for mines. Those efforts netted a fifteen-year concession.
Toward the end of 1688 the Count of Galvez, on assuming the government of New Spain, was informed that some French adventurers had formed establishments on the coast of Texas, and he ordered Leon to go with an expedition, accompanied by a geographer and interpreter, to that, coast. Accordingly the latter set out in the beginning of 1689, and after a long march through the desert arrived at the Bay of San Bernardo, or Espiritu Santo, where he found a partly constructed fort, but no signs of the French settlers. Hearing from friendly Indians that five of them were with a neighboring tribe in search of workmen, Leon sent a detachment to capture them, and after several days the force returned with two of the French adventurers, Jacques Grollet and Jean
L'Archeveque, the others having fled. He established a garrison, or presidio, and returned to
Monclova, the capital of Coahuila, despatching the two Frenchmen to Mexico, whence the viceroy sent them to Spain, recommending measures to secure the coast against the French. A royal order came to establish more presidios and missions in Texas, and Leon was sent in 1691 for this purpose; but he so oppressed the Indians that there was a general rising in 1693, and nearly all the missions were destroyed. Leon was now recalled and retired to New Leon, where he founded the town of
Cadereita, and died there. His report "Relacion de mi viaje a la Bahia de San Bernardo, dirigida al
Exmo. Sr. visrey de N. E., Conde de Galves" (1689), is kept in manuscript in the archives of the council of the Indies. Besides this there are in manuscript in the library of the University of Mexico
"Diarios de Alonso de Leon" (1689) and "Relacion y Discursos del
descubrimiento, poblacion y pacificacion del Nuevo Reino de Leon, temperamento y calidad de la
tierra, dirigidos For Alonso de Leon al Illmo. St. Du Juan de Manosca, Inquisidor del Santo Oficio de la N. E. ano de 1690."
In all, he had led four expeditions between 1686 and 1689. His initial reconnaissance followed the Río de San Juan to its confluence with the Rio Grande. After striking the larger river, Don Alonso marched along the right bank to the coast and then turned southward toward the Río de las Palmas (the Río Soto la Marina). This effort yielded no conclusive evidence that Frenchmen had visited the region. His second expedition set out in February 1687. This entrada forded the Rio Grande, probably near the site of present Roma-Los Saenz, and followed the left bank to the coast. De León then marched up the Texas coast to the environs of Baffin Bay but again found no evidence of Frenchmen. The third expedition, launched in May 1688, was in response to news that a white man dwelled among Indians in a ranchería (temporary settlement) to the north of the Rio Grande. On May 19, 1688 he headed the expedition to find and arrest the
frenchman, Captain Monsieur Juan Jarri known to history as Jean Henri. That effort resulted in the capture of Jean
Jarri, a naked, aged, and confused Frenchman. The fourth expedition left Coahuila on March 27, 1689, with a force of 114 men, including chaplain Damián
Massanet, soldiers, servants, muleteers, and the French prisoner, Jarry. On April 22 De León and his party discovered the ruins of the French settlement, Fort St. Louis,qv on the banks of Garcitas Creek.

In 1687 De Léon became governor of Coahuila. Three years later he and Massanet cooperated in founding the first Spanish mission in East Texas. Taking command of the Presidio San Francisco de los Tejas on October 18, 1687, he reviewed his small force of soldiers. Some of his men who passed in review would later become the first Spaniards to settle in San Antonio in 1715. De León, an honest soldier and an early pathfinder in Spanish Texas, left the future Lone Star State for the last time in July 1690. He is credited with being an early advocate for the establishment of missions along the frontier, and he blazed much of the Old San Antonio Road on his expeditions. On August 12, 1689, he founded Villa de Santiago de la
Monclova. His will was signed in 1691 and on March 20, 1691, he died a natural death in the villa de Pilon
(Montemorelos), Nuevo Leon, Mexico. His survivors included his wife, Dona Agustina Cantú, four sons, and two daughters. His descendants still reside in the Mexican state of Nuevo León.
He wrote the book titled "Historia de Nuevo Leon".
Source:Gallant Ourcasts, Texas Trumoil 1519-1734, by Ben Cuellar Ximenes.
Texas and Northeastern Mexico, 1630-1690 by Juan Bautista Chapa.

PUERTO RICO, a Caribbean
island with an area of approximately 40 by 120 miles, lying some 1,600
miles southeast of New York City and 1,000 miles southeast of Miami,
passed from Spain to the United States by the Treaty of Paris, at the end
of the Spanish American War in 1898. Puerto Rico was known as the
"poorhouse of the Caribbean" until the 1940s, when it introduced
an industrialization program, "Operation Bootstrap," to raise
the economic and social level of its people.

An estimated 700 Jewish families, totaling 2,000 persons in a total
population of 2,750,000, lived in Puerto Rico in 1969, nearly all in the
greater San Juan area, the capital of Puerto Rico. Some 10 Jewish families
lived in

Ponce, the second largest city, on the southern coast of the island,
and 365 366 / AMERICAN JEWISH YEAR BOOK, 1970 another 10 families in
Mayaguez, the third largest city, located on the western coast.

The only native-born Jews are the children of immigrants who came to
Puerto Rico after 1930. The Jewish community is basically an admixture of
Americans and other Jews who originally came to the United States as

refugees from Nazi terror in Europe. The Jews who came to Puerto Rico
in the late 1940s and 1950s, came under the auspices of "Operation
Bootstrap," and were mostly young people with an average age of under
35 years. With the advent of Castro in January 1959, European Jews who
lived in Cuba, together with their Cuban-born children, emigrated to
Puerto Rico.

Among the arrivals from Cuba were also Jews from the Middle East and North
Africa. In contrast to the Cubans, the earlier American arrivals of the
1950s were a highly transient group, who had no real roots in Puerto Rico.
The Cuban Jews, on the other hand, whose primary occupation was in
commerce rather than in industry, were able to establish themselves
successfully in retail, wholesale, and import businesses, and therefore
represented a more stable and permanent kind of immigrant than their
predecessors in the industrial management group. Although many of the
Cubans were young (between 25 and 40 years of age), they came from
traditional

Orthodox backgrounds and exerted a significant influence on the
development of the synagogue and Hebrew school.

Many Puerto Rican people converted to Judaism, mostly for marriage, but
some out of religious conviction. Nearly all the Jews in Puerto Rico are
in industry, commerce, or the professions. On the whole, the community is
well-to-do, with virtually no Jews existing at the poverty level.

Mimi,
Looking for other things on the net I found this website about Cebu City. The intersting part for me was the section entitled People and
Culture. I have sent only part of the article.

This is what I have traditionally heard at home in Coahuila. My
father's family has some background from San Luis Potosi. His family
used to talk about how entire villages in San Luis Potosi were sent to
the Philippines to start cities (I suppose they went in the ships
called naos de la China). Well, here's where they stated one! I have read on the subject and Mexicans helped start at least 10 cities
there.

Cebu is an island province of the Philippines located in the Central Visayas region. It's capital is Cebu City. Cebu is a long narrow island
that stretches 225 km. from north to south and is surrounded by 167
neighboring small islands, including Mactan Island, Bantayan, Daanbantayan, the Camotes Islands, etc.

Cebu is one of the most developed provinces in the country. The
metropolitan area of Cebu City (which includes Mandaue City and
Lapu-Lapu City) is second only to Metro Manila in population in the
country.

Cebu lies to the east of Negros Island; to the east is Leyte and to the
southeast is Bohol province. It is flanked on both sides by the straits
of Cebu (between Cebu and Bohol) and Tañon (between Cebu and Negros).

Cebu is served by Mactan-Cebu International Airport, which is located
in Lapu-Lapu City, some thirty minutes drive from downtown Cebu City.

People and Culture
The people of Cebu are called Cebuanos and are of indigenous Malayan,
Negrito, Spanish, Mexican and Chinese ancestries. Cebu is also home to
a number of Spanish and ethnic Chinese communities who play an
important economic and marketing role in the Cebuano society. Visayan -
Cebuano culture is laid back and easy going; the people are friendly
and have preserved strong Spanish-oriented traditions in its cultural
life to this very day.
Cebu is also a variant spelling of the cattle known as Zebu.

Native Language
Linguistically, Cebu is home to the country's second largest native
group. Cebuano was originally spoken only in the island of Cebu.
However, it is now being spoken in many parts of Mindanao, the eastern
part of Negros Island, the western and southern parts of Leyte, Bohol,
and in Samar. The term Visayan came from an ancient Malay kingdom,
called the Sri Vishayan Empire which ruled some parts of the
Philippines in the 14th century before the Spanish conquest in the 16th
century.

Buenos Aires, Argentina - a privately commissioned DNA test found no
relation between late Argentine strongman Juan Peron and a 72-year-old
woman claiming to be his daughter, a lawyer for Peron's former wife said
Tuesday.

The test was commissioned by Maria Estela Martinez de Peron - Juan Peron's
third wife - in response to claims by Martha Holgado that she is the
product of an affair between Peron and her mother.

Martinez de Peron's lawyer, Humberto Linares Fontaine, said on Argentine
television Tuesday that the test did not pinpoint any biological link between
Peron and Holgado.
But Holgado told the Associated Press she was awaiting the results of a
court ordered DNA test.

Optic Article on "El Dia De La Raza"
Letters to the Optic Editor - Birth of a new race called Hispano
Juan Fidel Larrañaga, October 20, 2006
Sent by Dorinda Moreno dorindamoreno@comcast.net

I was stationed with the Air Force at Albrook Air Force Base, Canal Zone (Panama) for two three-year tours at different times, for a total of six years. I was also fortunate to spend my first tour (1952-54) with the USAF School for Latin America, later renamed the
Interamerican Air Forces Academy.

One of the most impressive school ceremonies I experienced for that year was for the El Día de la Raza, Columbus Day. Personnel of the school stood at attention and saluted the airmen of 15 other American nations attending the school. They saluted back and then began the celebration for the day with a rousing march that is better when heard than when read. Called El Himno de las Americas, it goes like this:

A hymn of friendship and neighborliness
Will keep us ever united,
For our liberty, for our loyalty,
We must live gloriously.
A symbol of peace will brighten the life
Of the American continent.
This hymn of brotherly love
Shall be our optimistic and brotherly strength.
Argentina, . . .

In the late afternoon at the Balboa Park in Panama City, in front of a large statue of Balboa facing the ocean which he "discovered," we attended another ceremony. It was a glorious, typical celebration like hundreds of others throughout Latin America. Lots of flags, priests, speeches, dignitaries, folkloric presentations and bands. Ah, and lots
of poets. In those days, and perhaps even today the poets preferred extollers of any particular day. A trio somewhat like "Trio Los
Panchos." Or "Los Tres Diamantes," sang a beautiful tribute to Columbus called, "Las Tres Caravelas de Colon: La Nina, La Pinta y La
Santa Maria."

In similar celebration of El Dia de la Raza, 10 years later, I heard this song and was lucky enough to get the lyrics and the recorded music. Colombian, it tells, as scores of Latin American songs do, how some of the people feel about their race:

I remember the mestizo race, a people mixed with the Spanish. I have blood from the traveling gypsies, of adventurers. (I know) the language of the Don Quijote. I'm from that America which hid the El Dorado, and the gold of the conquistadors. My veins carry the
melancholy of the deep Indian, who yesterday had his own land. And I carry deep within me the deep language and ancestry of mother Spain. I love to hear the drums with their lovely negro undertones. That's because I remember that in my blood is the mixture of Indian, white and
negro.

These countries do not always realize the noble aspirations we hear in their songs, speeches and poetry, but every 12th day of October, despite dictators like Batista, Peron, Castro, Somoza, Noriega, or
Pinochet, they are out there in a carnival spirit, yet solemn celebration of the birth of a new race called Hispano!

The First Real Thanksgiving Feast
Robin Hood was Welsh and never went to Nottingham
Immigration Diversity Facts

The First Real Thanksgiving Feast"In what is now the United States, some believe that the first real Thanksgiving feast took place on 23 May 1541 in what is now Texas. The feast was celebrated by explorer Francisco Vásquez de Coronado and the Native Americans he called the
Tejas. The feast took place to celebrate a discovery of additional supplies of food. Another Thanksgiving in the running is 8 September 1565, when Pedro Menéndez de Avilés feasted with Native Americans in what is now Florida. In Texas, on 30 April 1598, Don Juan de Oñate celebrated with the Manso Indians."

Robin Hood was Welsh and never went to
Nottingham Sent by Jaime Cader jmcader@yahoo.com
Robin Hood was really a Welsh freedom fighter who never even set foot in Nottingham let alone Sherwood Forest, a historian has claimed. The medieval outlaw - said to have robbed from the rich to give to the poor - never once met Maid Marian nor the Sheriff of Nottingham, according to Stephen Lawhead. The American blows apart the widely accepted version of the legend in his new book, Hood, arguing that Robin Hood was really a hardened Guerrilla based in the Valleys. But tourism chiefs in Nottingham have rubbished the theory, warning: "Hands off our Robin!" Lawhead, 56, believes the folk hero and his band of merry men would have carried out their thieving in the Marsh, a primeval forest in Wales in the 11th century, more than a hundred years before the English Robin Hood. He claims Robin would not have been able to hide out in Sherwood Forest because it would have been too small and well chartered. Robin would, he said, be able to remain undetected in the vast and unknown forests of the March. The sheltered woodlands would have provided him with the perfect base to launch lightening attacks on invading Norman armies. In his book, Lawhead, still tells of a wronged nobleman turned heroic outlaw but names him as Bran ap Brychan instead of the more recognised Robin of Loxley. Bran is a spoiled and selfish prince who becomes the rightful heir to the kingdom of Elfael after his father is killed by the Normans. He quickly becomes a marked man and makes plans to escape his kingdom and his people, until he is almost killed by the forces of Count Falkes de Braose, who took possession of the kingdom. Just like the classic version of Robin Hood, Lawhead's re-telling involves a strong and beautiful maiden, a wine-loving priest and plenty of heartless kings and aristocrats. But the American historian and author has Bran fleeing to the woods of the March rather than Sherwood, where he meets Angharad, a mysterious healer and singing storyteller. Angharad's faith in Bran's potential as a heroic king eventually inspires his notion to steal from the rich in order to raise the money needed to buy back his kingdom and free his people, forced into slavery by their new ruler. Lawhead said: "Several small but telling clues locate the legend of Robin Hood in Wales. "Every single Welshman was ready for battle at a moment's notice. A Welsh location is also suggested by its nature and landscape. "While the forests of England had long since become well managed business property at the time, Wales still had enormous stretches of virgin Wood. "It would have been exceedingly difficult for Robin to hide in England's ever dwindling Sherwood. "But he could have lived for years in the forests of the March and never been seen nor heard. "I realise, though, that we could have some trouble with Nottingham. They are pretty heavily invested in the Nottingham Robin Hood version and with good reason." In fact the only similarity Lawhead's Robin has with the more accepted one is that they were both lethal with a bow and arrow. He added: "My Robin would have won in a fight for sure! "He would have been really good with a bow and there are a lot of documents about how devastating a weapon that was. "But Nottingham would have been too far for the Welsh Robin Hood to visit, Maid Marian was total fiction and he would have never met the Sheriff of Nottingham." Unsurprisingly Lawhead's version of the legend has not been greeted with enthusiasm in Robin's spiritual home. Stephen Richeux, from Nottingham City Council, said: "We laugh at this suggestion. "We imagine this author is trying to make a name for himself with the outrageous suggestion that Wales is the home of our beloved Robin Hood. "He is known to have spent a lot of time in Sherwood Forest so I don't know where Wales gets a look in. "Maybe this author is being paid by the Welsh tourist board? Hands off our Robin!" The English Robin Hood is first mentioned by name in the official documents for Yorkshire of 1230, where he is described as Robertus Hood fugitivis who has failed to appear in court. Many believe him to be nobleman, the Earl of Loxley, who was deprived of his lands by greedy churchmen. Ancient stories tell how he even helped Richard the Lionheart reclaim the throne of England after his return from the Crusades. Since then Kevin Costner and Errol Flynn have both portrayed the legend on the big screen. The first ever Robin Hood movie was made in 1912 and starred Robert Frazer as the loveable thief.http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_
article_id=406774&in_page_id=1770

Immigration Diversity Facts

The year was 1850 and the U.S. Federal Census counted 23,191,876
residents. Of this number, 2,244,602 were enumerated as being of foreign
birth. Not surprisingly, due to the Irish Potato famine of the 1840s,
961,719 people claimed Irish origins--or 42%, making it
the largest single country of origin cited. These numbers did not go
unnoticed in urban areas and resentment of the Irish Catholic immigrants
gave birth to a period of nativism http://www.tenement.org/encyclopedia/nativism_discrim.htm.

With the flow of gold seekers in 1850, disease followed in Sacramento when
Asiatic cholera was brought in and killed between 800-1000 residents of
that city. Most had to be buried in a mass grave in the Old City Cemetery.
http://www.oldcitycemetery.com/cholera.htm

The growth of California because of the gold rush led to statehood in
September of 1850 http://www.oldcitycemetery.com/cholera.htm.
The state's admission was part of "The Compromise of 1850,"
presented by Kentucky Senator Henry Clay. The compromise was an effort to
keep the U.S. united as southern states threatened to secede. At issue
was
whether the new state of California, Washington, D.C., and the new
territory acquired in the war with Mexico would allow slavery, and over a
land dispute with Texas. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part4/4p2951.html

The compromise also covered the Fugitive Slave Act, which legally required
the return of fugitive slaves who had fled to the north from slave states.
(http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/fugitive.htm The law also held citizens
who refused to cooperate with the apprehension of fugitive slaves subject
to legal action. It pushed the fugitives who had begun new lives in the
north, even further north -- to Canada. Rather than stem the tide of
fugitives though, the activities of the Underground Railroad increased
following 1850 and it increased northern determination to end
slavery. http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/fugitive.htm.

We’re pleased to announce that the world’s largest online collection of passenger lists has just tripled in size. Now the Ancestry.com Immigration Collection holds more than 109 million passenger names from more than 122 American port cities.

We’re also excited to announce the new Ellis Island Experience web site, which helps people understand how their ancestors once journeyed to America—and gets them excited about searching records to find relatives that came through Ellis Island.

We’ve added nearly 75 million passenger names and more than 26 million crew names, as well as more than 7 million images of passenger lists and roughly 1,000 ship photos or paintings of immigration ships.

The passenger lists (1820 to 1960) cover Ellis Island, Castle Garden and more than 100 more ports—and reveal details such as passenger names, ports of origin, dates and places of arrival, how much money was carried and more.
Until this project began, U.S. passenger list records could be found mainly on microfilm at ports spread across the nation. Now anyone, anywhere can search this comprehensive collection.

CIVIL WAR: CONFEDERATE RESEARCH SOURCES: A Guide to Archive Collections 2nd Edition by James C. Neagles

This book was written for the ancestor hunter who may be descended from a soldier or sailer who fought in a military unit of the Confederate forces during the American Civil War. It will also be helpful to those who may be descended from a civilian who left some record of having contributed to or was otherwise involved with the Confederacy. By using this book as a guide, the researcher can efficiently track down information about his Confederate ancestor whether in a state archive, the National Archives in Washington, D.C., or in a state or other genealogical library. Use of this book should save considerable travel and search time because it
points out what Confederate records there are and their exact location.

DON'T LOSE YOUR FAMILY MEMORIES
The family traditions in your own family should be preserved forever. If
there's a special story, memory, recipe, or something else that needs to
be recorded, please invest the time to do it now. If you do nothing else
to commemorate Family History Month this year, write down one or more of
these family traditions so they may be preserved for posterity. Your
family will be forever grateful. "Blackberry Cobbler!" by
George G. Morgan

E-MAIL JOURNALS
Recently while reading an e-mail from a relative concerning a family
wedding, it occurred to me that if I print out our family e-mail
correspondence, they can be compiled into a journal that future
generations would be delighted to read. With so few people actually
writing letters these days and even fewer writing daily diaries it is a
way to keep something tangible to pass on. Winifred Collins

TIPS FROM THE PROS: "Labeling Your Pictures," from Maureen
Taylor
The kids are back in school. Got a few extra minutes on your hands? Now
might be a good time to label all those summer photos before they remain
unidentified for the great-grandchild to puzzle over.

If you print your digital pictures, use a black marker labeled that it is
safe for pictures. Look for specific terms such as odorless (when dry)
quick drying, water resistant, and light fast. One such product is a Zig
marker, available at scrapbook supply stores, craft outlets, and even
office supply stores like Staples. "Creating Keepsakes," a
scrapbook magazine, offers a list of pens and pencils that their
preservation advisors gave the okay to on their website. http://www.creatingkeepsakes.com/scrap/ck_ok

Don't use these markers on your heritage photos. Purchase instead a very
soft lead art pencil.. If your digital images are sitting on your hard
drive and need captions. Use your photo organizing software, such as
Google's free download Picasa, or download the free Foto Tagger http://www.fototagger.com
You won't believe what you can do with
these tools!

I have found so many mistakes in census records, newspapers, etc., that I
often wonder how anything accurate survived over the years. For
example, one census has my uncle, whose name is Lewis, listed as a female
named Lois. Another census lists my grandfather, whose name is Reub E., as
a female named Ruby.

A different census has my grandfather listed as being 60 years old. That
in of itself doesn't sound odd, unless you look at his death certificate
and see that he died at age 48 -- even though the newspaper obituary says
he was 50.

RootsWeb Review, 11 October 2006, Vol. 9, No. 41

Digital Genealogist
Sent by Janete Vargas magnaguagno@gmail.com

http://www.digitalgenealogist.com/sample/dgnovdec06.pdf

After the editorial and contents, there is a major article, with screenshots and other things, related to the indexing and 'new FamilySearch' website.

Has some fascinating figures on what will be going on in the near future with 'ScanStone' and other projects, BYU's digitization of some 5,000 family histories.

This is an online magazine that is intended to replace Ancestry's 'Genealogy Computing' magazine they discontinued, this first issue was provided free, and
that first article will answer alot of questions posted to various family history lists over the last month or two.

Immigrant
Ancestors Project: Uncovering the Roots of Your European Ancestors

George Frey for The New York Times
Tim Sullivan, the chief executive of MyFamily.com, with digital storage tapes at company offices in Provo, Utah. He says that business is good and is promising to get better and that he has no intention of trying to mimic the free sites.
By Bob Tedeschi Published: October 9, 2006

GENEALOGY sites have long helped their customers reconnect with long-dead ancestors. Now, in keeping with the social networking trend, some of these sites are trying to connect living relatives, as well.

Ancestry.com, a division of MyFamily.com in Provo, Utah, has spurred interaction between close and distant relatives by letting them more freely share information about their forebears and post old photos, and it is also considering a family subscription service.

The recent changes are aimed at transforming the site from a niche service for genealogy buffs to one for mainstream users. And the changes have yielded results that would be the envy of nearly any other social networking site. Since the changes were put into effect early last month, users have been adding photos, often from long-dead relatives, at a rate of 3,000 a day, according to Tim Sullivan, MyFamily’s chief executive.

“We’ve seen an explosion in the amount of content we’re acquiring from the community," Mr. Sullivan said. “And this stuff hasn’t been that highly promoted yet.”

It is not simply the success of social networking sites like MySpace that is making genealogy sites reconsider their emphasis on dead relatives over live ones. These sites also face new competition from organizations and businesses offering free and innovative online genealogy options, including start-ups that rely on DNA profiles to match remote relatives.

One of the most intriguing innovations involves such DNA matching. The nonprofit Sorenson Molecular Genealogy Foundation last month introduced a free service (www.smgf.org) that lets users find distant relatives by tracing their genetic connections.

Ancestry.com, which charges a fee, also faces new competition from services like Amiglia.com that offer free spaces and tools for families to post videos, share calendars and even build comparatively rudimentary family trees.

“If you define social networks as people you want to hang out with,” said Charlene Li, a media analyst with the consulting firm Forrester Research, “you can’t get much better than families.”

“But it’s always really tough when you’re asking for significant payments, especially when others are doing similar things for free,” she said.

Ancestry.com has no intention of competing directly with free sites, according to Mr. Sullivan, especially because it is redesigning its own free family networking site, MyFamily.com, for introduction in coming months.

The site already does well, at least for a niche service. The company, which is privately held, generated $140 million in subscription revenue last year, Mr. Sullivan said, up from $47 million in 2002. Sales are growing this year as well, he added, with “very, very solid” profit margins despite heavy and continuing spending on digitizing historical records from an array of public databases.

Annual subscribers, who pay $155, are renewing at a rate of about 60 percent; monthly subscribers, who pay $30, are renewing at an 80 percent rate. And those figures are on the upswing in recent months, Mr. Sullivan said.

The Ancestry users are taking advantage of one new service, in which subscribers can invite others to view their family trees free of charge. The site’s 725,000 subscribers have invited roughly 42,000 nonsubscribers to look at such material, which includes images of hand-written documents going back as far as the 1790 Census.

That sharing has been accelerated by the refinement of yet another new feature, the OneWorldTree, which automatically connects a user’s family tree to others worldwide if it finds common relatives with another subscriber. Ancestry.com helps those who maintain the family trees connect with each other if they wish.

“There’s a lot more social networking going on now,” Mr. Sullivan said.

Despite the promising performance of the new services, it is unlikely that Ancestry.com can break into the mainstream, Ms. Li of Forrester Research said.

“Online dating is the perfect analogy for this,” she said. Fewer than 10 percent of all Internet users in the United States use online dating sites, she said, “and it’s not as if these sites don’t work. It’s not because they’re not easy to use. It’s just that not that many people want to do it.”

Changes in the genealogy industry — especially the introduction of the DNA services — could entice more casual users. Scott Woodward, executive director of the Sorenson Molecular Genealogy Foundation, said DNA searches allowed users to find many more family connections than they would otherwise do through documents alone.

“The goal is to be able to take any two people in the world and show them exactly how they’re related, where their common ancestors are, where they lived and when,” he said.

At the moment, the database is of limited value to the average user because it relies on users to volunteer a DNA sample, and so far just 65,000 people worldwide have done so. But beyond the genealogical information on those 65,000, the DNA database may yield useful information. Those who spend the roughly $100 it costs to obtain their own DNA signature can use that information to search for connections among other DNA donors.

About 80 percent of those who take that additional step, Mr. Woodward said, find someone else with a common ancestor who lived in the last 500 years and a chart detailing that connection.

Ancestry.com is accustomed to competing with public institutions that give away genealogy information for which it charges. EllisIsland.org gives away data about immigrant ship manifests to help raise awareness about Ellis Island, while FamilySearch.org, which is owned by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, gives away census data at least partly to help its members who would like to baptize ancestors into the church.

Mr. Sullivan of Ancestry.com said the company would offer DNA searching in the near future, and would compete with the Sorenson database as it does with the other free sites — by surrounding its own version of the service with a broader range of features.

“The real value is in the networking you can do with people that have similar profiles,” he said. “It’s an opportunity to take this network effect to an entirely new level.”

MEXICO CITY - Mexican archeologists are investigating if the tomb of an Aztec emperor lies beneath a recently excavated
stone monolith depicting a fearsome god.

It would be the first burial site ever found of a leader of the 1427-1521 Aztec empire, said archaeologist Eduardo Matos Thursday.

Matos, who leads the excavation project at the Templo Mayor ruins in Mexico City's main square, said a date carved on the stone suggests it contains the remains of emperor Ahuizotl, the father of Moctezuma, the Aztec ruler defeated by the Spaniards.

"We think this could be a gravestone covering the place where this ruler was laid to rest," Matos said, as he showed reporters the carved face of the stone for the first time since it was discovered Oct. 2.

The stone was unearthed at the foot of the western face of the Templo Mayor, the Aztecs' main religious site.

Researchers have spent more than a month removing dirt and stones covering the 13-foot monolith. They hope to begin excavating the fractured stone itself to explore a shallow pit that lies beneath it.

Carvings on the stone show Tlaltecuhtli, an Aztec god was so fearsome the Aztecs normally buried her depictions face-down in the earth.

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexican archeologists unveiled the largest Aztec idol ever discovered on Friday and said it could be a door to a hidden chamber at a ruined temple under the heart of Mexico City.

The Aztecs, a warlike and deeply religious people who built numerous monumental works, ruled an empire stretching from the Gulf of Mexico to the Pacific Ocean and encompassing much of modern-day central Mexico.

The 12.4 tonne stone slab, 46 feet in surface area, was partially uncovered this month at the main Templo Mayor on the edge of the capital's central Zocalo square. Aztecs used the temple for worship and human sacrifice.

Excavators have been astonished by the size of the piece and its elaborate engraving of the earth god Tlaltecuhtli as they uncovered more of the slab in recent days.

Asked on Friday if it was the most important Aztec piece found, anthropologist Alvaro Barrera said: "For its size, yes, for the importance ... we have to wait to see what we discover and its context."

When it was discovered, officials said the monolith and an adjacent 15th century altar comprised the most significant Aztec find in decades.

Now, with the realization that the monolith is likely a giant stone idol, some are calling it one of the greatest archeological finds in a country that also boasts pyramids like Chichen Itza and
Teotihuacan.

Last year scientists found a 2,600-year-old, 30-tonne idol in Tamtoc, San Luis Potosi, belonging to an older culture.

"These two finds, Tamtoc and this stone, on a national level are the most important ever. We still haven't completely uncovered it, but we are getting very excited," said Alberto
Diez, a member of the archeological team.

The scientists believe the monolith could cover the entrance to a chamber and may soon announce more finds.

"Most likely we will find an enormous offering below it. If there is a chamber, we will find a series of impressive offerings," Diez said.

The Aztecs' often bloody reign began in the 14th century and ended when they were subjugated in 1521 by the Spanish, led by Hernan
Cortes.

Aztec rulers began building the pyramid-shaped Templo Mayor in 1375. Its ruins are now yards from downtown's choking traffic.

The temple was a center of human sacrifice. At one ceremony in 1487, historians say tens of thousands of victims were sacrificed, their hearts ripped out.

Spanish conquistadors destroyed the temple when they razed the city and used its stones to help build their own capital. Archeologists say the Spaniards came within feet of discovering the idol.

Now the site is surrounded by Spanish colonial buildings like Mexico City's cathedral and the historical National Palace as well as convenience stores and fast-food restaurants.

A Different Christmas Poem
Daisy, first civilian Canine to win the Medal of Honor of New York City
Baile Chino Espectacular

A Different Christmas Poem

The embers glowed softly, and in their dim light,
I gazed round the room and I cherished the sight.
My wife was asleep, her head on my chest,
My daughter beside me, angelic in rest.
Outside the snow fell, a blanket of white,
Transforming the yard to a winter delight.
The sparkling lights in the tree I believe,
Completed the magic that was Christmas Eve.
My eyelids were heavy, my breathing was deep,
Secure and surrounded by love I would sleep.
In perfect contentment, or so it would seem,
So I slumbered, perhaps I started to dream.

The sound wasn't loud, and it wasn't too near,
But I opened my eyes when it tickled my ear.
Perhaps just a cough, I didn't quite know,
Then the sure sound of footsteps outside in the snow.
My soul gave a tremble, I struggled to hear,
And I crept to the door just to see who was near.
Standing out in the cold and the dark of the night,
A lone figure stood, his face weary and tight.

A soldier, I puzzled, some twenty years old,
Perhaps a Marine, huddled here in the cold.
Alone in the dark, he looked up and smiled,
Standing watch over me, and my wife and my child.
"What are you doing?" I asked without fear,
"Come in this moment, it's freezing out here!
Put down your pack, brush the snow from your sleeve,
You should be at home on a cold Christmas Eve!"

For barely a moment I saw his eyes shift,
Away from the cold and the snow blown in drifts..
To the window that danced with a warm fire's light
Then he sighed and he said "Its really all right,
I'm out here by choice. I'm here every night."
"It's my duty to stand at the front of the line,
That separates you from the darkest of times.
No one had to ask or beg or implore me,
I'm proud to stand here like my fathers before me.
My Gramps died at 'Pearl on a day in December,"
Then he sighed, "That's a Christmas 'Gram always remembers."
My dad stood his watch in the jungles of 'Nam',
And now it is my turn and so, here I am.
I've not seen my own son in more than a while,
But my wife sends me pictures, he's sure got her smile.

Then he bent and he carefully pulled from his bag,
The red, white, and blue... an American flag.
I can live through the cold and the being alone,
Away from my family, my house and my home.
I can stand at my post through the rain and the sleet,
I can sleep in a foxhole with little to eat.
I can carry the weight of killing another,
Or lay down my life with my sister and brother..
Who stand at the front against any and all,
To ensure for all time that this flag will not fall"

"So go back inside," he said, "harbor no fright,
Your family is waiting and I'll be all right."
"But isn't there something I can do, at the least,
"Give you money," I asked, "or prepare you a feast?
It seems all too little for all that you've done,
For being away from your wife and your son."
Then his eye welled a tear that held no regret,
"Just tell us you love us, and never forget.
To fight for our rights back at home while we're gone,
To stand your own watch, no matter how long.
For when we come home, either standing or dead,
To know you remember we fought and we bled.
Is payment enough, and with that we will trust,
That we mattered to you as you mattered to us."

Daisy, first civilian Canine to win the Medal of Honor of
New York City.
James Crane worked on the
101st floor of Tower 1 of the World Trade Center . He is blind so he has a
golden retriever named Daisy. After the plane hit 20 stories below, James
knew that he was doomed, so he let Daisy go, out of an act of love. She
darted away into the darkened hallway. Choking on the fumes of the jet
fuel and the smoke James was just waiting to die. About 30 minutes later,
Daisy comes back along with James' boss, who Daisy just happened to pick
up on floor 112.

On her first run of the building, she leads James, James' boss, and about
300 more people out of the doomed building. But she wasn't through yet,
she knew there were others who were trapped. So, highly against James'
wishes she ran back in the building.

On her second run, she saved 392 lives. Again she went back in. During
this run, the building collapses. James hears about this and falls on his
knees into tears. Against all known odds, Daisy makes it out alive, but
this time she is carried by a firefighter. "She led us right to the
people, before she got injured" the fireman explained.

Her final run saved another 273 lives. She suffered acute smoke
inhalation, severe burns on all four paws, and a broken leg, but she saved
967 lives. Daisy is the first civilian Canine to win the Medal of Honor of
New York City.